Our wonderful sweet daughter is such a horrible sleeper that it’s a constant challenge for me and hubby. She did just have five teeth come in so I have some sympathy for the little beast but man am I one sleepy momma.

We were alternating nights getting up with her but hubby just started a new job that has the potential for serious injury if he’s not awake. Being the wonderful wife I am I’ve taken over so that he can eek out that little bit more sleep and hopefully come home with all of his fingers and toes.

Unfortunately, this means I am back to drinking bucket fulls of coffee and am just this side of functioning. I recently used my lunch break to grab a few groceries and then walked back to the office. Great right… Except that I had driven to the grocery store and now I had to walk back over to retrieve my car. I couldn’t help but laugh and then make another pot of coffee.

It can probably be imagined that this has meant it’s been harder to keep up on writing recipes or really even making anything more exciting than toast.

However, my office recently had a pot-luck to say good-bye to one of our colleagues. So far I have had a crap track record and have either forgotten entirely or guiltily brought a bag of chips because it’s all I had time to manage. I liked the person leaving though so I was absolutely determined to make something special. It had a pink theme and since someone was already bringing salmon all I could think of was beets.

After a little internetting of beet recipes a tart seemed like the yummiest and easiest way to go.  I love the combination of sweet and savoury and I think this nails it. The tart has the earthy richness of beets mingled with sweet pears, creamy goat cheese and roasted walnuts. I think this would be a perfect appetizer or even a savoury dessert paired with wine.

And since I made this in my sleep deprived state at almost 10 pm I can promise it really isn’t that complicated.

I also love how it looks. It obviously is not “pink” but the colours are rich and inviting.

The Tart

1 package of puff pastry (I used tenderflake)
4-5 large beets
2 ripe pears 
1 package unripened goats cheese (chevre)
a handful of roughly chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 400F

Slice the beets about 1/2 inch thick and spread over a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for about 20 then set aside to cool.

Prepare the puff pastry according to package instructions and bake for 15 minutes. Sprinkle half of the goat cheese over the pastry. Slice the whole pear into 1/4 inch slices and alternate layers of beet and pear over the top of the pastry. Sprinkle the remainder of the goat cheese over the top.

In a saucepan over medium heat quickly toast the walnuts tossing them regularly. Sprinkle these over the top of the tart and return the tart to the oven for 15 minutes, until the pears have cooked and the pastry is golden brown.

I used a toaster oven at our office to reheat the tart before serving.