When it comes to cocktail food, I like one-biters and I like things that are dainty and beautiful. These pretty little tarts fit that bill and more. They taste as fantastic as they look. I prefer to use black-olive tapenade because of its richness, but you can certainly try green-olive, which is tangier.

　　

Ingredients

4 to 6 servings

　　1 (10 x 9-inch) sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

　　All-purpose flour, for sprinkling

　　1/3 cup store-bought black-olive tapenade

　　1 cup (2 ounces) grated Fontina cheese

　　8 cherry tomatoes, quartered

　　6 fresh basil leaves, chopped

　　Fleur de sel or other coarse sea salt (optional)

　　

Special Equipment

A 2 1/4-inch-round cookie cutter

　　

Step 1

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

　　

Step 2

Unroll the puff pastry on a lightly floured work surface. Using the tines of a fork, prick the pastry all over. Using a 2 1/4-inch-round cookie cutter, cut out 16 rounds of pastry. Place the pastry rounds 3/4 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. Lay a piece of parchment paper on top of the pastry rounds and then place another baking sheet directly on top of the parchment paper to keep the pastry even while baking. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden. Remove the top baking sheet and the top piece of parchment paper.

　　

Step 3

Spread 1 teaspoon tapenade on each pastry round. Spoon about 1 tablespoon cheese on top. Arrange 2 tomato quarters over each dollop of cheese. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes, until the cheese has melted.

　　

Step 4

Transfer the tartlets to a platter and sprinkle them with chopped basil and some fleur de sel, if desired.

　　Giada at Home by Giada De Laurentiis. Copyright © 2010 by Giada De Laurentiis. Published by the Crown Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved.Giada De Laurentiis is the star of Food Network's Everyday Italian and Behind the Bash. She attended the Cordon Bleu in Paris, and then worked in a variety of Los Angeles restaurants, including Wolfgang Puck's Spago, before starting her own catering and private-chef company, GDL Foods. The granddaughter of movie producer Dino De Laurentiis, Giada was born in Rome and grew up in Los Angeles, where she now lives.