Is it just me, or does anyone else dream about food too? Well last night my dream was something like a "kitchen scan"...scanning through closets and drawers figuring out what ingredients could become my next targets for a baking experience. Then suddenly, my kitchen radar stops and beeps at three big red round objects. Three big pomegranates I had been ignoring for the past few days, ever since a family member had brought them back from Egypt. Last night however, all I did was pretty much dream about them and their jewel like shiny seeds...
So, continuing on my dream, I could do several things with the pomegranates. One was using them in a spinach pie, along with feta and walnuts. But then I thought "nah, we've had that so many times already". You see, my mom and grandma always always use pomegranates in spinach pies, and so I pretty much grew up eating that many many times a year. So, no thanks- even if it is delicious indeed, but I want to do something different! Then I thought what about pomegranate macarons...wait...did I just say macarons? Come again? (And now for this part, I'm talking to myself) "Marianna, have you gone insane? Try to already get macarons right in the first place, then you can start dreaming of pomegranate macarons. Pff! Huh! What do you think you are, some kind of Miss Hermé? Continue dreaming".
Hmmm OKAY...
So then my third option was pomegranate jam- something easier then macarons. I wanted to make a pomegranate & vanilla jam. On second thoughts however, I remembered we had so many pots of jam already, and they really needed to be eaten and finished before I start making new ones.
But wait, that pomegranate and vanilla combo sounded intriguing. So I stayed on that idea, slept on it and woke up this morning making these:
Pomegranate and Vanilla tartlets. It was perfect, I had all the right ingredients! There was left over puff pastry from yesterday's orange-marzipan tarts, the three big red pomegranates of course, vanilla pods, and...marzipan! Marzipan again?! Well yes, it tastes so good and it seems to always enhance tart-type pastries! So once I woke up, brushed my teeth, and made myself some white tea, I impatiently ran to the kitchen to make a dream finally become a reality. For the recipe, continue reading...
Pomegranate & Vanilla tartlets
Ingredients
A big pomegranate
Vanilla pod or essence
Sugar
Marzipan
Puff pastry
How to make them:
- Wash your pomegranate, cut in quarters and take out the seeds. Keep the seeds in a bowl aside
- If you're using a vanilla pod, cut in length and scrape out the seeds.
- In a pan, place half a cup of sugar, the vanilla seeds (or a few drops of essence) and the pomegranate seeds. Add in seperate doses a cup of water (start with 1/3 of it, and with time, you'll know if you need to add more of it)
- Place the pan on medium heat for about 15-20 minutes, until it becomes all sticky. So the water you'll be adding depends on the evolution of the "stickiness".
- Remove pan and let cool
- Preheat oven to th7.
- Take out puff pastry, roll out and cut out preferred shape
- Roll out the marzipan, and place in the middle of the puff pastry portions, leaving space for the outerside borders.
- With a spoon, place the pomegranate vanilla mix generously, but always only in the center
- Bake in oven for about 10 minutes
Enjoy! I personally wouldn't mind making this again for an apéritif with champagne.
I am posting here on my blog just minutes after these "fatayers" (Arabic for any dough-based pie-pizza-ish speciality) came out of the oven. If only you could smell how wonderful it is over here, and if only I could virtually send you a piece just so that you could try a bite of this Syrian speciality called "fatayer mouhamara". 
1. The dough. Pretty straightforward.
2. But then comes this stuff- and this is where we need some details. Thus- the photo below.
So, ever tried anything like this before? The combination of ingredients is divine.
A bit of dough massaging.... and in the oven it goes!
