Upside Down Shallot Tart With Bacon Lardon Potatoes & Halloumi

Preheat the oven to 200°C/ 180°C (fan)/ gas 6 and boil a kettle

Peel and cut your shallots in half

Strip your thyme leaves from their stems and chop them roughly, discard the stems

Tip: Hold the top of the herb sprigs firmly and slide your fingers down their lengths to easily remove the leaves

Adding a halloumi? Slice your halloumi and fry for 2-3 min on each side or until golden and crisp

Dust your work surface with a generous sprinkling of flour

Unwrap your puff pastry and roll it out to approx. 0.5cm thickness with a rolling pin and cut into 1 rectangle per person

Spread your soft cheese evenly over the pastry rectangle[s]

Line a baking tray (or two!) with non-stick baking paper

Drizzle a little olive oil onto the baking paper

Drizzle half your balsamic vinegar (save the rest for later!) over the olive oil, then make 1 pile of thyme leaves per person and top with 1 tsp [1 1/2 tsp] [2 tsp] sugar

Add the chopped shallot to the pile[s], cut side down

Top with 1/3 of your bacon lardons (you'll use the rest later!) and drizzle over your roasted garlic paste

Season with a grind of black pepper

Place the puff pastry rectangle[s] over the shallot and lardon pile[s], soft cheese side down, gently pressing down to seal the edges

Brush the puff pastry with a little milk

Put the tray[s] in the oven for 30 min or until the filling is cooked through, the pastry is golden and the edges are puffed up– this is your upside down shallot tart

Meanwhile, chop your waxy potatoes in half

Add the chopped potatoes to a pot of plenty of boiled water with a pinch of salt and bring to the boil over a high heat

Once boiling, cook for 12-15 min or until fork-tender, then drain and set aside, reserve the pot

While the potatoes are cooking, chop your cherry tomatoes in half

Return the reserved pot to a medium heat with a generous drizzle of olive oil and once hot, add the remaining bacon lardons and cook for 4-5 min or until crispy

Once the bacon is crispy, add the chopped tomatoes to the pot with a splash of cold water and cook for 5-6 min or until slightly softened

Once softened, return the cooked waxy potatoes to the pot with a pinch of salt, give everything a good mix up and cook for 2-3 min or until warmed through – these are your bacon lardon potatoes