Last week I had the privilege of teaching a cooking class at Weaver’s Orchard about Sweet & Savory French tarts.

Since I recently published my cookbook, Easy Bruschetta Meals, I decided to choose 2 recipes from the cookbook. The cookbook is available for purchase at Weaver’s Orchard Farm Market and online store. It features approximately 30 recipes, each with a photo and only costs $9.99 plus tax.

The first recipe I did was an appetizer of Sun Dried Tomato Pesto using my canned bruschetta served over a slice of French baguette. It makes a nice spread to serve with an hors d’oeuvres course of olives, tapenade or nuts.

Next, I demonstrated a Bruschetta Pancetta Quiche recipe in an 11-inch tart pan. In the states, most quiches are made in 9-inch pie pans, since most cooks have at least one 9-inch pie pan on hand. Tart pans are harder to find in American kitchens, though they are certainly nice to have to make your quiches and pies look a little more exciting.

The quiche recipe calls for my canned bruschetta as well as pancetta, a peppery smoked pork belly, similar in some ways to bacon. If you don’t have pancetta, bacon could be substituted.

My final recipe was a French Apricot & Berry Dessert Tart using apricots (or plums) and berries like black raspberries. It called for almond meal, which is available in Weaver’s Orchard’s gluten-free section. An almond-rich filling like this is called frangipane – and generally includes almond meal, sugar, eggs and butter. Sometimes it can be flavored with almond extract, but in this case I flavored it with orange liqueur.

Find all the recipes on Weaver’s Orchard’s blog.