Fruit and Cream Mini-Tarts

Fruit and Cream Mini-Tarts

Ingredients

• Tart Crust:
• 1-1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup superfine sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), chilled
• 1 egg yolk, broken with a fork
• Cream Filling:
• 2-3/4 cups milk (I use 2-1/2 cups nonfat milk + 1/4 cup whipping cream but any type will work)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 4 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Crust:

1. Combine flour, sugar and salt in food processor. Cut butter into 8 slices and add to flour, pulsing several times until mixture resembles oatmeal. Add egg yolk. (Go ahead and add the egg white if you want a sturdier but not quite as tender crust.)Pulse until all ingredients are moistened but not yet a solid ball. (See note below if mixture seems too dry.) Lightly press into a ball, cover and chill 30 minutes.
2. Pull off small amount of dough and press into molds with fingers being careful to keep thickness consistent. Use a knife to trim off any extra at the top. Freeze for at least 30 minutes.
3. Place frozen tart shells on cookie sheet and cook at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Watch carefully as the time can vary according to the thickness of the crust.

Cream Filling:

1. Add milk, sugar, cornstarch, salt, and egg yolks, (in that order) to blender. Blend 5 seconds and pour into 2-quart glass microwave-safe bowl. Microwave 6 minutes on HIGH, whisking until smooth after 3 minutes, then every minute thereafter.
2. Add butter and vanilla and whisk until smooth.

Assembly:

1. Fill each baked tart shell with cream filling. Top with fruit of your choice. Melt 1/4 cup currant jelly and use a brush to dab some shininess on each piece of fruit. It’s OK if some drips onto the cream.

(Source)

Grilled Vegetable and Hummus Tart

Grilled Vegetable and Hummus Tart

(Original Recipe)

Ingredients: (makes 2, 8 inch X 2.5 inch [approx.] tarts)

1. Hummus – recipe below
2. Olive Oil Tart crust - recipe below
3. Roasted Vegetables - recipe below
4. Sea Salt
5. Olive Oil
6. Red Crushed Pepper (Optional)

For Hummus:

1. 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas
2. 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
3. 1 clove garlic
4. salt
5. a very generous splash of extra virgin olive oil
6. 1.5 teaspoons lemon juice
7. 1 tablespoon tahini (optional)

Grilled Vegetables:

1. 1 medium red onion, thickly sliced
   
2. 2 zucchini, sliced
3. 1 small eggplant, sliced
   
4. 2 medium tomatoes, sliced
   
5. 6 cloves of garlic. minced or grated
6. coarse sea salt
7. freshly ground black pepper, to taste
   
8. red crushed pepper, to taste
9. a good drizzle of olive oil
10. herbs (optional)
11. sumac (optional)
    

For the crust:

1. 2 cups all purpose flour
2. 1/3 cup + 2.5 tablespoons olive oil (I have used Rosemary Infused Olive Oil)
   
3. 1/4 cup + 1.5 tablespoons  very cold club soda (use a little bit more or less to make a soft but non sticky dough)
   
4. 1 teaspoon salt
5. freshly ground black pepper
6. dried herbs, (optional) – any kind you like

Preparation:


Making the crust:

In a bowl combine flour,  salt, black pepper, herbs with a whisk.

Whisk together club soda and oil until almost creamy, for about 2 minutes.

Pour the oil water mix in to the flour mix and stir together with a fork, until the flour come together in a dough form and no dry flour is left. If you think you need extra liquid, add some more club soda or just cold water in very very little amount. Use your hands briskly to pull the flour together in to a dough, and work with the dough briefly and gently and just long enough to pull the dough together. Do not work with /handle the dough too much. The dough should be soft, but not at all sticky. It will not be very stretchy, but will rather kind of come apart.

Divide the dough into two parts and roll gently between two sheets of waxed paper, in a single direction. I rolled them into rectangles – 8″ by 2.5″, but you can roll them into whatever shape you desire. Do not roll back and forth.  Remove the top parchment paper. Trim the edges, to even it out if you wish. Prick the crust with a fork.

Bake the crusts on the same parchment paper at 400 degree F for about 12 minutes, or until the crust is golden.


Preparing the Hummus:

Drain the sun dried tomatoes (if you using tomatoes in oil). Save the oil. If you wish you can use this oil instead of the olive oil. If you are using dried version of the sun dried tomatoes, first reconstitute them in boiling water until softened. Chop the tomatoes in smaller pieces.

Drain the chickpeas and save the liquid.

Combine all ingredients for hummus  in a food processor. Process until smooth; if you need to use liquid, use the liquid of the chickpeas.

Grilling the vegetables:

Whisk olive oil, salt, herbs, crushed pepper and minced garlic.

Grill the vegetables in a regular grill drizzled with the above olive oil mix.

OR

Place all sliced vegetables in a single layer in a baking tray; drizzle the garlic oil. Roast at 380 degree F in a pre heated oven, tossing them midway for 30 minutes.

OR

Cook the vegetables on a stove top cast iron grill/skillet drizzled with garlic oil.

To make/assemble the tart:

Cool the crust to warm. Spread about 1/2 cup of hummus on the crust (or as much as you want). Arrange roasted vegetables on the top of the hummus. Sprinkle some sumac and sea salt on the vegetables. Repeat with the other crust. Drizzle with some olive oil and crushed pepper if you wish. Bake the tart in the oven for about a minutes at 350 degree F, just enough to warm the tart.

Serve warm or at room temperature.