Festive Finger Food - Olive Tapenade Puffs

Preheat the oven to 200°C/ 180°C (fan)/ 400°F/ Gas 6 

Strip the thyme leaves and chop finely, discarding the stems 

Slice the cherry tomatoes in half

Add the sliced cherry tomatoes to a baking tray (use baking paper to avoid mess!) with a drizzle of olive oil and a generous pinch of salt and pepper

Sprinkle with the chopped thyme and put the tray into the oven for 10–12 min or until the tomatoes have softened

Once softened, remove from the oven and keep aside to cool down

Meanwhile, dust a clean board lightly with flour

Unroll the puff pastry and cut into halves lengthways, then into three pieces each to give six squares

Score along the sides of each square with a knife to create a border (be careful not to cut all the way through!) and prick the centres lightly with a fork 

Line a baking tray with baking paper, then add the puff pastry squares and lightly brush the borders with milk

Put the tray into the oven for 10–15 min or until golden and crispy and the pastry is cooked through

Once cooked, transfer to a clean board

Meanwhile, peel and grate the garlic

Strip the basil leaves and slice roughly, discarding the stems 

Add the black olives, capers, dried oregano, Dijon mustard, 3/4 sliced basil (save the rest for later), garlic (Don't like raw garlic? Go easy!) with 1 tbsp [2 tbsp] olive oil to the food processor and blitz into a coarse paste – this is your black olive tapenade

Once the pastry squares are cooked through, lightly press down on the central squares to create a space to fill with the black olive tapenade