These Sweet Potato, Chorizo, and Goat Cheese Tarts have it all–they’re sweet, spicy, tangy, and buttery all in one bite. The sweet potatoes are tossed in light brown sugar, cinnamon, and a hint of cayenne for an extra touch of sweetness to play off the smoky spice of chorizo and jalapeño. With the use of pre-made, store-bought puff pastry, the assembly of these tarts is simple.
Do you ever go for a meal and leave with such an impression that you can’t do anything but think about it for days, weeks, months, or years afterwards? That’s what happened when my family went out to breakfast one blustering November morning, my cheeks red, hair a knotted mess, and lungs still tired from a 5k. Maybe it was the hunger from having just completed a race (because no matter how far I run, I always feel far hungrier than I probably should), or maybe it was just that this skillet was that good, but I’ve been obsessed with the sweet potato and chorizo skillet that I had ever since. It’s led to many incarnations of at-home Sunday brunch skillets of my own, so naturally it found its way into these individual tarts as well!
Like any good tart, these begin with the pastry. Because I’m a bit weird, I like to make a batch of rough puff pastry for these tarts. There’s just something oddly soothing and pleasing about folding and rolling and repeating the process until you have visible layers in the dough. I know that no everyone has the time or patience or desire to deal with making their own pastry, so I wrote the recipe using frozen, store-bought puff pastry instead which makes the process infinitely easier.
The pastry is then layered with a spread of goat cheese because this tart needs a little bit of a cooling tang to help round out all of the flavors and pull everything together and topped with a mixture of sweet potatoes (roasted with brown sugar and cinnamon to pump up the level of sweetness), cooked and cooled chorizo, and diced jalapeño pepper. Once baked, I like to eat these tarts as is or top with an egg or some slices of avocado for a little bit of added freshness.
I felt it was about time I threw something savory into my rotation, and with quarantine still going on and my absolute dedication to keeping with it, these tarts might just be something I turn to more and more as the weeks go on because they honestly are perfect for any time of day!
| Prep Time | 30 minutes |
| Cook Time | 25-30 minutes |
| Servings |
tarts
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- 1 box frozen puff pastry (can substitute homemade rough or full puff pastry)
- 1 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes (about 590 grams or 2 medium sweet potatoes)
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tbsp light brown sugar (packed)
- 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 jalapeño
- 8 oz chorizo cooked, drained, and cooled (about 230 grams or 2 cups)
- 6 oz goat cheese (170 grams)
- 1 egg beaten
- flaky salt
Ingredients
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- Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Thaw both sheets of puff pastry per the directions on the box. Cut each sheet into six 4" x 6" rectangles. Line the rectangles up on the prepared baking sheets and place in the refrigerator or freezer to chill.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and line another baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside. Wash and peel the sweet potatoes and cut into cubes about 1/4" to 1/2" thick. Place the cubes in a large bowl and toss with olive oil, brown sugar, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper. Transfer the potatoes to the prepared baking tray and bake on the center rack of the oven for 20 minutes or until tender, stirring halfway through. Allow the potatoes to cool to room temperature.
- Deseed and finely dice the jalapeño. In a bowl, stir together the jalapeño, cooked and cooled chorizo, and sweet potatoes. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Remove the puff pastry from the refrigerator or freezer. With a sharp knife, lightly trace a border about 1/2" from the edge being careful not to cut all the way through the pastry. Brush the outer edges of each tart with the beaten egg, leaving the centers without egg wash.
- Spread 1/3 oz (9-10 grams) of goat cheese over the center of each tart. Top with 1-2 heaping spoons of the sweet potato, chorizo, and jalapeño mixture and crumble the remaining goat cheese over the top of each tart. Sprinkle with flaky salt.
- Bake 25-30 minutes until the pastry is cooked through and golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool a bit on the baking sheet. Serve warm. Optional: serve with sliced avocado or an egg on top.