Roses for Dinner

My 19 year old niece and I made this beautiful and delicious dinner. My family likes to say that I don’t make the same thing twice, but I am guessing that I will make this meal again. Of course it took a long time to cut and roll the roses but that is part of the fun. My niece placed the vegetable roses on the tarts.

Zucchini Rainbow Carrots Rose Tart – I followed the advice in the comments on this post and made some corrections / additions.

Crust – I used homemade pie crust instead of the puff pastry.

Filling – I did not use eggs or mozzarella and added Boursin herbed cheese, garlic powder, extra sharp cheddar and a lot of freshly ground cracked pepper to the ricotta. (I would add even more flavor to the filling next time).

Vegetable Roses – I found the rainbow carrots at Trader Joe’s. I used a mandolin slicer and cooked the slices in the microwave for one minute before rolling as the directions say. But after rolling the roses, I cooked them an additional minute in the microwave before placing on the tarts. After putting on the olive oil, I also put freshly ground salt and pepper on top of the roses.

Apple Cream Cheese Rose Tarts – these were very easy, impressive looking, and tasty! In my rush to get them in the oven, I did make a mistake and did not fold up the bottom of the puffed pastry before rolling. So they were a little too tall for the muffin tin.