Parmesan shortbreads with mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and pesto
Makes: 30
Prep time: 15 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Karen Thomas
Parmesan shortbreads with mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and pesto
Makes: 30
Prep time: 15 minsTotal time: 
See more recipes
Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
94Kcal
Fat
7gr
Saturates
3gr
Carbs
4gr
Sugars
0gr
Fibre
0gr
Protein
3gr
Salt
0.2gr
Lyndy Redding
Lyndy Redding, set up her catering company, Absolute Taste, in the 1990s and has been serving the glam set ever since. She has cooked for everyone from the Beckhams to Elton John, Nelson Mandela to the Queen.
See more of Lyndy Redding’s recipes
Lyndy Redding
Lyndy Redding, set up her catering company, Absolute Taste, in the 1990s and has been serving the glam set ever since. She has cooked for everyone from the Beckhams to Elton John, Nelson Mandela to the Queen.
See more of Lyndy Redding’s recipes
Ingredients
- 15 cherry tomatoes
- 1 tbsp chopped thyme
- 150g plain flour
- 75g soft butter, in pieces
- 40g Parmesan (or vegetarian alternative), grated
- 1 medium egg
- a sprinkle of paprika
- a sprinkle of poppy seeds
- 275g block mozzarella
- 50g fresh green pesto
Step by step
Get ahead
Bake the shortbread a few days ahead; store in an airtight container (or freeze)
- Preheat the oven to 120°C, fan 100°C, gas ½. Halve the tomatoes, place on a baking tray, cut sides up. Sprinkle with thyme, season and bake for 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, sift the flour into a bowl and add the butter and Parmesan. Lightly beat the egg in a cup and add half to the bowl.
-
Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour and bring everything together to make a dough. Tip it out and flatten it into a disc. Wrap in clingfilm; chill for 30 minutes.
- Remove the tomatoes from the oven; increase the temperature to 160°C, fan 140°C, gas 3.
- Roll the dough to 5mm thick. Using a 5.5cm star cutter, stamp out 30 stars. Brush with the remaining egg; sprinkle over a little paprika and poppy seeds. Bake on a greased baking tray for 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
- Thinly slice the mozzarella and stamp out stars using a 3.5cm cutter.
- Top each star with a little pesto, a mozzarella star, a little more pesto and a tomato half.
