I was invited to an outdoor potluck picnic in the Santa Cruz mountains a couple of weeks ago. The spot was so beautiful and rustic with tall trees and an ocean view in the distance. Gorgeous!

I wanted to bring something delicious of course, but also something to match the rustic atmosphere. Also I didn’t want something that needed to be heated or kept cold. So I looked in my refrigerator to see what I had on hand and decided on this cranberry and goat cheese tart.

The flavor combinations of this tart are so complex – sweet from the cranberry chutney, tangy from the goat cheese, and peppery from the arugula on a crispy, flaky puff pasty dough – it’s hard to believe how easy it is to make. And with only 4 ingredients! (If you don’t count the flour for the work surface.)

Serves: 4-6 as an appetizer

Difficulty Level: So easy

Ingredients

• 1 sheet puff pastry
• about 3/4 cup cranberry chutney
• 8 oz of goat cheese
• 2 hand fulls of arugula

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Flour your work surface and roll out the puff pastry sheet until it’s about 2 inches wider on each side.

Use parchment paper or aluminum foil to cover a sheet pan for easy clean up later, but totally not necessary. The puff pastry has enough butter on it’s own that it wont stick to the pan.

Before adding toppings, put the rolled out pastry sheet on the sheet pan. Something I didn’t do and it was not fun to move after it had all the toppings.

Spread the cranberry chutney on top, leaving a one-inch border.

Top with pieces of crumbled goat cheese.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

As soon as you take it out of the oven, top with the arugula. I love having the arugula warm up and wilt a little before serving.

Let rest for about 5-10 minutes before serving. Just that easy!

Variations:

• make them into bite-sized hors d’ oeuvres. After adding the goat cheese, add the arugula and roll as tight as you can. Cut into 1-1.5″ pieces, lay them flat, and bake on a baking sheet. The oven temperature and time area about the same as the whole tart.
• Use mango chutney instead of cranberry.
• Use Feat cheese instead of goat cheese.
• Add chopped walnuts or pine nuts.

Do Ahead:

• Assemble up to the point of baking. Wrap with saran wrap and refrigerate up to one day ahead.