Irish Corned Beef and Cabbage Tarts

Nice appetizer made from left over St. Paddy's Day ingredients. From Linda Larsen,Your Guide to Busy Cooks, in About.com. "I love this recipe for these individual little tarts. The creamy cheese, crisp-tender cabbage and sweet red onion blend so well with the corned beef and the flaky pastry. You can omit the corned beef entirely for a nice vegetarian entree."

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2  pastry recipe or 2  prepared  pie crusts
• 2  tablespoons olive oil
• 1  red onion, chopped
• 1⁄2 head cabbage, chopped
• 3  garlic cloves, minced
• 3  tablespoons  balsamic vinegar
• 1  teaspoon sugar
• 1⁄2 cup water
• 1⁄2 cup  cooked cubed corned beef or 1⁄2 cup ham
• 1  cup  cubed gruyere or 1  cup swiss cheese
• 1⁄4 cup  grated parmesan cheese

Directions

1. PREPARATION:
2. Prepare pie crust and divide dough into four pieces.
3. Roll out each between waxed paper into 7" rounds.
4. *If using prepared crusts, first roll to square shape, then cut each in half.
5. Fit each into a 4" tart ring, or simply put the crusts on two cookie sheets. Set aside.
6. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
7. Saute onion in olive oil in a large skillet until soft.
8. Then add cabbage, vinegar, sugar, and 1/2 cup water.
9. Cover pan and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until cabbage is soft and mixture is reduced and thickened, stirring occasionally.
10. Divide half of the cabbage mixture evenly among the pastry circles.
11. Assembly:
12. If you aren't using the tart rings, just mound the mixture in the center of the circles of pastry.
13. Divide the corned beef evenly onto the cabbage mixture.
14. Sprinkle with Gruyere cheese cubes and grated Parmesan cheese, and top with remaining cabbage mixture.
15. Fold crust edges over the top of the cabbage mixture, pleating to form a ruffled edge.
16. Bake tarts at 425º F for 20-30 minutes.
17. Remove tart rings and serve.
18. NOTE:
19. You could use red cabbage to add more color/interest to the tarts.