Artichoke and feta tarts – DHSP challenge #7
My version
While I think some of the last couple of challenges where… well quite challenging… I think I may have picked a very easy one this time..:) So I would almost say that there is no reason not to participate this month!
For the new Donna Hay styling and photography challenge, number 7 already, I picked a recipe from the most recent Donna Hay magazine nr. 61. Photography is by William Meppem and Styling by Steve Pearce. For the past couple of months I have gone for dark and moody shots (to fit the season), rather then the signature Donna Hay style which is light and airy. I was in the mood for spring however and when I saw this gorgeous shot I could not resist.
The original by Wiliam Meppem ; the colors should be more like mine though. Blame it on the scan!
Smaller but better version of the original by William Meppem
So this is a fairly simple challenge, certainly compared to the ones we had previously but maybe it’s good to throw in an easy one for a change, to give you all some room to breath. It does not use a lot of props other then baking paper and a baking tray so in terms of prop shopping it’s easy too. I’ll show you a shot of my setup as well, so you have an idea on how I lighted the scene. Basically I had daylight coming from behind the subject and from the left with fill in with a large silver reflector from the right.
Setup for the shot
The light on this particular day was soft and cloudy so perfect really for a shadowless (more or less) photo. You could even go as far and place all the peas on the same spot but that was maybe a bit stretching it, so I left it the way I liked it. I also did have yellow tomatoes but for me that is not a huge difference so use whatever tomatoes you have.
Left mine, right the original
Now on to more pressing matters; we have a fantastic judging panel in place for the new challenge! I’m proudly presenting the following three awesome foodbloggers and awesome photographers/foodstylists.
Kay from the famous Kayotic Kitchen and a fellow Dutchie is a great photographer and has the amazing ability to do step by step shots for each and every single dish she makes. Hats of from me there!
Meeta from the equally famous What’s for Lunch Honey needs no further introduction if you come here more often. She’s not only a dear friend but also a very talented food photographer and foodstylist.
Then last but not least we have Jenn from Jenncuisine. Jenn has been participating regularly already from the first challenge and has won three times! So to avoid her winning anything else I thought I’d ask her to be on the judging panel..lol.. . She’s a great photographer and stylist as well.
So with that our judging panel is complete. The judges themselves are allowed to take part in the challenge as well, but they cannot win obviously. But it’s still fun to participate so didn’t want to take that away from anyone. Enter your links via the below Linky Tool!
Hungry yet?
You can find all the rules for the challenge on the special DHSPC page. As for the logo; I previously used the official Donna Hay logo but I was kindly notified that that is not allowed, so I changed it a bit. If you have the old logo, please use the new one from now on.. 
The Donna Hay team has kindly offered to share some wonderful prizes with us so the winner of the new challenge will receive a beautiful Donna Hay cookbook. it’s one of the two latest ones. I haven’t received them yet but will share that later as well.
Once the winner is decided upon by the judges I will ask the winner for his or her homeaddress to ship the book to.
So now all that leaves me is to share the recipe with you here and it’s a delicious recipe for sure, so if all else fails you still have these delicious tarts!
As usual; dietary changes are allowed!
Artichoke and feta tarts with tomato salad
Yield: 4
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 25 mins
Ingredients:
- 1 sheet store bought puff pastry (thawed)
- 250g feta (crumbled)
- 4 artichoke hearts (marinated and halved)
- 1 egg (lightly beaten)
- 100g mixed cherry tomatoes (halved)
- 120g frozen peas (thawed)
- 1/4 cup mint leaves
- olive oil (for drizzling)
- white balsamic vinegar (for drizzling)
Directions:
| Preheat oven to 200 C. Cut the pastry into 4 squares and score a 1 cm border around each square. Place the square on a baking tray lined with non stick baking paper and top with feta and artichoke. Brush the pastry borers with the egg and bake for 12-14 minutes or until golden | |
| Place the tomato, peas and mint in a medium bowl, drizzle with olive oil and white balsamic and toss to combine. Top the tarts with the tomatoe salad to serve. Serves 4 | |
Note
This is really simple and delicious recipes that - at least it does for me - gives me a spring feeling!
Recipe from Donna Hay Magazine
Appetizer
Asian
Bread
Breakfast
Desserts & other sweets
Healthy
Love the colours in these photographs. I must say I prefer your version because to me the red tomatoes makes the picture “pop” and colourful, which I don’t get in the picture with the yellow tomatoes.
Styling should be easier with this one, but still a challenge for me because I have to make my own puff pastry (readymade puff pastry is not available here), no artichokes either! Might get lucky with the Feta.
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 3rd, 2012 at 10:00
Making your own puff pastry! O yes that will be a real challenge..
I’m so used to finding puff pastry in all stores that I didn’t even think it might not be available everywhere. You can always substitute with another kind of pastry or use other ingredients. Ultimately it’s about the feel of the photograph more then anything else. Looking forward to seeing your entry Aparna!
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This seems easy but I always think that whenever I see the photograph and then, as I set up I find its not so.:) I have this book that has William Meppem’s photography and its just gorgeous! Will definitely try this one. Got to get cherry tomatoes and if I am lucky I might get the yellow ones too. I think you have done justice to the original. It’s perfect.
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 3rd, 2012 at 10:01
Yes William Meppem is one of my favorites. And you’re right; it’s usually the photos that seem very easy that turn out to be a real challenge. Can’t wait to see your results!
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Delicious looking tarts and great challenge! I can’t wait to see the results.
Cheers,
Rosa
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 4th, 2012 at 15:29
Thanks Rosa!
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As usual I like your photos better than the original! Love these posts, one of these days I’m going to enter!
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 4th, 2012 at 15:30
Thanks so much Sue, although that is probably mostly due to the brightness (or lack of) of the scan so the original really does look much better. I’ve so got to get myself a better scanner!
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Nicole — March 5th, 2012 at 05:16
It might be worth asking the folks at Donna Hay for use of the original photos. They might be happier too, rather than having you used the washed out versions. I know that it has been challenging for me to see the details in the scanned versions. So far some quick internet searches have enabled me to find the originals which I find much easier to work from.
Simone (junglefrog) — March 5th, 2012 at 09:12
He Nicole. I’m not particularly happy about the scans either. I’ve found the original of the artichoke tarts on the Donna Hay site too and have added it to the post. It’s so very small though so that’s a problem. It’s a good idea to ask the folks at Donna Hay if they can help out with that but it might be a bit trickier to get a photo from them each month. Assuming they’re not really looking forward to diving into the archives every month… But will have a think about how to solve it!
Paula Thomas — March 28th, 2012 at 17:21
Have you tried taking a picture of the magazine photo with your camera? That might look better than what you get with your scanner.
Simone (junglefrog) — March 31st, 2012 at 12:47
Hey Paula, yes, tried it both but same results. For the next month I’ve found a much better solution though so stay tuned..
Beautiful challenge Simone. And I agree that your photo is much better than original, it just pop and has so much spring energy.
I admire all girls from the panel for their beautiful photography.
Smart move with asking Jenn to join the panel
And you wouldn’t guess that even with the challenge as simple as this I will have problems with props, would you? I think I will need to cheat a little bit as my baking paper is brown and I don’t have bright aluminium baking pan
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 4th, 2012 at 15:31
O well you can indeed use brown baking paper and do some other tricks..
I’m sure you’ll manage!
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It looks fairly easy. I only need to make the puff pastry. But I might just buy it at the store
I love the judging panel!
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 4th, 2012 at 15:32
O storebought puff pastry will do just fine Ben! Although making your own is ofcourse a whole challenge in itself!
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I not only love how springy it looks.. or how simple it looks but I honestly love these kind of quick and easy tart. All i need to buy is some artichoke hearts and I will be all set to make and shoot this.
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 4th, 2012 at 18:27
Great! Can’t wait to see what you make!
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Very much looking forward to seeing all the submissions. I look forward to taking part here too because I love the recipe and adore Meppen’s work!
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 4th, 2012 at 18:28
Really excited to have you on the judging panel Meeta!
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So beautiful ! Love the colors of the tart, the tomatoes look so juicy, and you are right – these do look like spring!
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how colourful the tarts look! well i think your version looks much more brighter, cant tell you how glad i am that you have kept the challenge a bit simpler now i finally might muster up courage to take part
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 4th, 2012 at 14:33
I do have to say that the brightness is partially because of the scan that is just not so very good. I hope you will make it this month! Looking forward to seeing the results!
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What a delicious looking tart. I could make a meal of these. Nice job on your pictures!
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Simone, I actually think your photos look better! These are such colorful looking tarts, almost too pretty to eat
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I will be visiting frequently to learn the art of taking good food photos. Your photos are just gorgeous.
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 5th, 2012 at 09:13
Thanks so much Norma!
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I adore this challenge and can’t wait to try it out myself! You make it look so easy, Simone. I do appreciate how you showed us your set up, that is very helpful. And what a wonderful panel of judges – great addition to the challenge
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 5th, 2012 at 09:13
Thanks Liren! Looking forward to seeing your entry again!
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Love your interpretation, Simone! The pull back shot is extremely helpful too. So exciting that DH contacted you, whoever wins the cookbook is surely lucky
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Hi Simone,
I haven’t been able to participate yet on your DH challenges, but I have followed each and every one of your posts, and I’m always thrilled with your photography and I’m here to thank you again for sharing your experience, I’m sure you are helping so many newbies out there to improve their food photography as well! Hats off to you!
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Great job Simone!
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Oh what a gorgeous, Spring-like dish and image! I might even get organised to take part this time… ;o)
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This just screams spring to me! I have been following this challenge for a while now and love what everyone comes up with. Just never mustered enough courage to actually participate
And yes, I agree with whoever that said yours is better than the original…looks more colorful, definitely has a pop, maybe the red tomatoes!
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Love the colors! So bright and lovely – Perfect for Spring. I actually like your creation better than original one. Let’s see what I can come up with my first challenge!
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This is a great one! Love the colors and the simple recipe. I’ll print it right now. Hopefully I will have the time to participate. I really want to this time.
Kirsten
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 23rd, 2012 at 21:52
Hope you can make it too Kirsten! It’s still a couple of days left before the end of the month..
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thank you for choosing an easy recipe. Perfect for beginners like me
I really like the idea of your contest.
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How do I know if my entry was submitted? After I cropped the picture for thumbnail the browser returned me to this page directly without any confirmation that my entry was submitted.
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 23rd, 2012 at 21:48
It’s in! I just have to approve it before it shows. And I want to right now but somehow the program seems stuck but it should be online really soon!
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I love the idea of a photography challenge – perhaps I will participate next month. As for the photos, your tarts are beautiful and this recipe is perfect for spring!
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I finally managed to upload my post on the tart
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 31st, 2012 at 12:47
And it looks brilliant! Maybe a little more summery indeed but I’d still want to eat it straight away!
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My First!! I enjoyed doing the challenge!! Was fun:-)
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 31st, 2012 at 12:44
Thanks so much for participating Shri! Love you entry!
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Hey!! I just submitted my entry. And it was giving me an error while uploading an image. Now when I try to resubmit the whole thing, it says it’s only allowed once. I hope you received my submission. Let me know if you haven’t.
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Simone (junglefrog) — April 1st, 2012 at 12:24
I don’t know why those errors occur as everything does come through fine.. Mmm, weird… So it’s all in fine. Thanks for your entry!
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Sent in my pic & post, hope it shows up coz even i was getting an error message. It was a lot of fun
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Simone (junglefrog) — April 1st, 2012 at 11:31
Yes it’s there now. It worked ok! Thanks so much for your entry!
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