“Here I come to save the day!” proclaims a package of puff pastry, sitting pretty in the freezer section. Or at least that’s what I hear it singing as I imagine its sheets swooping in to rescue, boost, or glorify just about anything that needs rescuing, boosting, or glorifying.
And no wonder that rando Mighty Mouse theme song echos in my head. You see, growing up, my suit-clad dad used to walk in the front door of our house and routinely belt out that particular refrain EVERY SINGLE WEEKDAY he returned from the humdrummy job he valiantly held down for 28 years. Here I Come To Save The Day x 7,280 working days is a lot of Here-I-Come-To-Save-The-Days.
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Am I equating a rectangular piece of unbaked pastry to my dad, both able to save the day with their ability to elevate a range of things, spanning from caramelized onions to a bad day at school? There are worse things (like the rudimentary math I just performed to reach a value of 7,280).
But enough with the food-parent analogies. Let’s talk components of this freaking delicioso tart that I will be making for many, many a special and non-special occasion.
ALSO SUPER CONSUMABLE WITHOUT THE GREENS. AND MUCH MORE TONAL, IF YOU’RE INTO MONOCHROMATICS.
PUFF AND PEPPERS
Oh my GOODNESS do I love puff pastry. And oh my GRACIOUS do I hate bell peppers. So, when left with dozens of bell peppers after a photo shoot last week, I thought of the only two ways to eat them that my esophagus and I can really get behind: when turned into romesco, or when roasted down into melty oblivion in lots of olive oil, a touch of sugar, vinegar, and garlic.
I chose the latter. To safeguard a home run, I picked up two of the truest culinary amplifiers of our time: Dufour brand puff pastry… and Boursin cheese.
If you can find it, Dufour puff is the play. It’s made with all butter (as opposed to Pepperidge Farm’s, made with vegetable oil) and, as is the case with all things containing a higher percentage of butter than any other ingredient, this pastry will make you feel quite… French.
It’s at Whole Foods! It’s at my corner deli in Brooklyn! It’s worth finding (and shouldn’t be too hard to) and renders a puff so puffy, I hope you’ll agree that the dough is worth the extra dough.
BOURSIN… and The Bear
Apparently Boursin is making a comeback? (Like anything worthy of finishing off by the spoonful, it was never gone for me.) A friend, mid-bite of an early iteration of this pepper-topped puff, downloaded me on the Boursin blowup of 2023, when TikTok and the like went nutso over a Boursin-filled omelet with potato chips after its feature on Hulu’s The Bear. Sounds delicious(ish).
Full-fledged deliciousness is Boursin atop this week’s tart. It’s a cheat, it’s a hack, it’ll bring all the girls to the yard. Call it what you will, but Boursin makes for an insta-herby, insta-creamy, Insta-worthy base, more ‘70’s (like, cheese balls) than 80’s (like, goat cheese salads).
BOURSIN: VINTAGE AND MODERN IN EQUAL MEASURE
And there’s nothing that matches the feeling of unfurling that tin wrapper, running your finger along the edge for a quick taste, and feeling like you’re eating the world’s softest, creamiest sour cream ‘n onion chip dip.
(Yay/Nay: does a ‘kraut-filled omelet have what it takes to go viral like The Bear’s?)
In a somewhat unusual turn, I added some mint sprigs to the roast, which is what I hope you’ll find a bit curious and noteworthy in this recipe, as well. Roasting fresh mint? YES.
OVER HERE AT NOODLE HQ, WE LOVE A BEFORE & AFTER AS MUCH AS PAT SAJAK DOES
Think of fresh mint tea and how the herb’s stems and leaves steep and seep aroma into hot water. Imagine that same scent and minty brightness merging with jammy bell peppers, rendered so sweet and NON-pepper-y that the resulting veg is more akin to slow-roasted summer tomatoes, with a nearly fruited flavor to match.
To finish it off, double down on the mint by adding a smattering of leaves into an arugula salad that lands atop the baked tart, playing off the richness of the oil-packed peppers. (Fine, confession from this recovering pepper-doubter: these roasted pepps are so delicious on their own, even I would eat them plain, or strewn through a salad, or atop toasty bread, or into pasta, on roasted vegetables, aside protein, or for dessert. Just don’t tell the Dufour. Or the Boursin.)
Slowww Roasted Sweet + Minty Peppers Tart With Boursin And Arugula
SLOWWW ROASTED SWEET + MINTY PEPPER TART WITH BOURSIN AND ARUGULA
Serves 4 as a main, 8 as an appetizer
REMEMBER, BEST PRACTICE: READ THE RECIPE ALL THE WAY THROUGH BEFORE YOU START COOKING!
Instinctually, I never reach for bell peppers. Upon development of this recipe, though, I’ve changed my own mind about the poor vegetable. You could scrap the whole tart itself and just make peppers per this recipe’s method to add to salads, pasta, atop fish or other protein, or as part of an apps platter. The possibilities are you-know-what.
I call for Dufour brand puff pastry because it’s made with all butter and is totally worth the extra dough (of the dollars variety). And it’s more and more widely available! (Whole Foods carries it, as does my corner deli in NY.) See the asterisk post-recipe for instructions on how to bake if you can only find Pepperidge Farm puff.
6 large red, orange, or yellow bell peppers (about 1 ½ pounds)
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus additional for dressing the salad
8 cloves garlic, smashed and kept in their skins
1 small serrano chile, thinly sliced (or ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes)
1 bunch mint
1 ½ teaspoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon red wine, white wine, or sherry vinegar, plus additional for dressing salad
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
One (14-ounce) package Dufour puff pastry*, thawed in the refrigerator and cold
All-purpose flour, for dusting work surface and pastry
One (5.2-ounce) package Boursin cheese
A few big handfuls arugula, from a 5-ounce box
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees with racks in the upper and lower thirds. Line a rimmed 18” x 13” baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Cut the peppers in half lengthwise. Remove all cores and stems with a small paring knife and discard. Working over a bowl, knock out as many seeds as possible. Slice peppers into strips lengthwise, roughly ½- to ¾-inch thick. Now cut the strips in half crosswise.
3. Place the pepper slices in a large, deep-sided skillet or Dutch oven, along with ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil, 8 cloves of smashed garlic, 1 sliced chile (or ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes), 4 large sprigs of mint (you’ll use the remainder for serving), 1 ½ teaspoons of sugar, 1 tablespoon of vinegar, 1 ¾ teaspoons salt, and a generous grinding of black pepper. Mix to combine.
4. Transfer to the top rack of the oven and roast, stirring 2-3 times during cooking, until peppers are shriveled and caramelized on the edges, about 70 to 80 minutes. If the pan looks dry at any point, add a glug or two of additional olive oil. Discard any pesky garlic skins and the mint sprigs. (Some intel, if you’re curious: I like roasting garlic cloves smashed and in their skins to protect them from burning.)
5. As the peppers roast, place the sheet of pastry on a lightly floured surface and dust the top, using a brush or the palm of your hand to distribute and remove excess flour. Use a rolling pin just to lightly smooth the creases. (You’re aiming neither to enlarge the piece of puff nor make it thinner. The piece will ultimately be around 10” x 15”.) Roll the pastry onto your rolling pin like a scroll and unfurl it onto the prepared parchment-lined baking sheet. If the dough has warmed, transfer to the fridge or freezer until chilled, 5-15 minutes. With a sharp knife, score a border about ¾-inch from the edges, creating a rectangle. (Do not cut all the way through.) Use a fork to prick the interior rectangle in roughly 1-inch intervals.
6. Transfer the baking sheet to the bottom rack of the oven. (It’s okay to share space with the peppers.) Bake, rotating and repricking the dough halfway through, until the pastry is thoroughly golden all over, about 18-22 minutes. Be sure to peek at the underside of the pastry to make sure it is browned. This is your chance to bake the pastry through and through, so don’t hold back! Remove the tray from the oven and firmly press down on the puffed interior with a spatula, creating a sunken rectangle for the filling. (You can rescore the border with a knife if the seam has sealed.)
7. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Evenly spoon dollops of the Boursin on top. Return to the oven to let the cheese soften, 3-5 minutes. Remove from the oven and gently spread to cover the bottom
8. Taste the peppers and season with salt if they don’t taste sweet and spiced and yumscrum. Salt will make everything sing if it’s not already. Spoon peppers on top of the Boursin and return to the oven to warm everything through, about 7-10 minutes.
9. As the tart finishes baking, place a few big handfuls of arugula in a large bowl. Add a generous amount of mint leaves from the remaining bunch of mint. Drizzle with some olive oil and a teaspoon or two of vinegar and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
10. Remove tart from the oven. Cut into squares, top with the arugula-mint salad, and serve.
*If using Pepperidge Farm brand puff pastry, use one sheet from the 17.3-ounce package. Roll to a dimension of 9” x 14”. You may need to hold back by about ¼ cup of the peppers so as not to overload the tart, but up to you. (I don’t think you’ll have trouble finding another home for extras.)
