Savoury Tarts

Simple Italian tarts with an Indian style filling made from paneer, spinach & spices to make for a delectable tea time or anytime treat

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Italian

Keyword Tartlets, Tarts, Vegetarian

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 20

Total Time 50

Servings tartlets

Calories 164kcal

Author Shireen Sequeira

Ingredients

For the pastry dough (tart base)

190 grams 6-1/2 oz plain flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
115 grams 4 oz cold butter cut into cubes
2-3 tablespoons ice water

For the filling:

2 eggs
3 tablespoons heavy cream * see notes
3 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese or paneer
2 fat cloves of garlic minced
225 grams 8oz tomatoes, peeled, deseeded and chopped
12-15 fresh basil leaves cut in thin ribbons * see notes for substitute
a sprinkling of dried herbs (optional
salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 200 C. Grease a 12 hole muffin tray with butter or Pam spray.
To make the tart base, sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Rub the cubed butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Now sprinkle in the water, about 1 tablespoon at a time, mix using your fingertips and knead into a soft dough ball.
Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll out thinly. Using a fluted, 6cm pastry cutter cut out rounds and line the muffin moulds. You may get more than 12 rounds, so you can bake them in the second round.
To make the filling, heat oil or butter in a saucepan and add the minced garlic and fry a bit. Then add the chopped tomatoes and basil. Toss in the dried herbs and simmer for a couple of minutes or until the excess water has evaporated. Remove from heat and cool.
In a bowl, beat the eggs and cream together in a bowl. Stir in the cheese, salt, pepper to taste. Add this mixture into the cooled tomato mixture and stir.
Divide the mixture equally between the pastry cases and bake for 10 minutes at 200 C. Then reduce the heat to 180 C and bake till the filling has set and the pastry is golden brown, about another 10 minutes.
Remove and let the tarts cool on a wire rack before serving. These tarts are best eaten fresh and warm as the tart shell is not double baked and hence soft. It may not stay very firm if you store it for longer than a day.

Notes

1. You can use Amul Fresh cream if you live in India. You can even skip it and add more cheese if you wish to.
2. If you don't have basil you can substitute it with chopped coriander or even palak.
3. If you like the tarts slightly spicy you can add some chilli flakes.
4. I suggest you make the pastry cases first and make as much enough filling that is required. You may need to eyeball the measurements here. Perhaps one egg instead of two would suffice if you are going to add many more items to the mixture. You will need to use your judgement here.

Nutrition