Caramelised onion & blue cheese mini tarts

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a low to medium heat and cook the onions gently, stirring and turning regularly for about 20 minutes until soft and golden in colour.

Remove from the pan and chop up finely. In the meantime, remove the crusts from the bread. Roll out each slice of bread with a rolling pin as thin as possible so it resembles rolled out pastry. Cut out discs of bread using a 6 - 6 1/2 cm cutter. (Rather than throw away the bread trimmings, reserve all the bread offcuts to make breadcrumbs for your Christmas Day bread sauce - they will freeze perfectly)

Press the discs of bread into the recess of a mini muffin tin. If you get any cracks, just utilise a little of the rolled offcut to patch it. Place the muffin tin in the pre-heated oven for about 7 minutes, or until lightly coloured. With the bread cases in the muffin tin, put a pinch of chopped caramelised onion in the bottom of each bread case. Add a good crumbling of Stilton. Beat the cream and eggs until combined, season to taste with salt and pepper and then spoon over the onion and cheese to the brim of the cases. Don't worry if a little spills over the top - it just adds to the taste and helps give a rustic, homemade look to the finished tarts.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for about five minutes - or until golden brown. Remove from the muffin tin with a teaspoon or small knife and place on a cooling rack. They are delicious served warm or cold.