Sunday, January 31, 2010

I Heart Cooking Clubs : Small Savory Tarts


This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs we cooked for an happy hour party. My colleagues already posted many goodies already, and I hope not to be too late !


When looking at these tartles I was always willing to try them but lazy. Yesterday I finally made them and they were a hit !
The pastry is very very buttery and crumbly: it includes polenta and some shortening (which I ideally don't use like margarine).
For the toppings I used some tomato sauce and grated Parmigiano with cherry tomatoes and olives and for the artichoke ones I made a quiche-like batter with egg and cream and added some sauteed artichokes on top. The pastry is not enough for a crowd and once you make it maybe it would be nice to double the recipe and freeze it.

RECIPE

From 'How to be a Domestic Goddess'

Pastry:
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup polenta
1 TBS sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter (112 gr)
scant 2 TBS vegetable shortening
3-4 TBS iced water

Combine the dry ingredients and add the butter and shortening until it resembles coarse bread crumbs, add the water and bring together and form two discs, wrap in plastic wrap and put in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Roll out the dough one disc at a time and drape the dough in the pans, put them back in the fridge for 15 minutes (I think they could be frozen at this point).

Fill with filling of your choice.
Bake in a 400° F oven for about 20 min.



12 comments:

Jennifer said...

Natalia-These tarts look AMAZING-they are just precious!

It's hard to go wrong with a recipe from Nigella Lawson! I like that the tart uses polenta in the dough-what a nice change!

Jessica said...

Those tarts look so pretty and elegant! I love Nigella Lawson's cookbooks, and I have every single one, but I rarely use them. I love that you all are using her cookbooks right now. What a wonderful idea.

♥Sugar♥Plum♥Fairy♥ said...

Oh these cute little tarts they stole all our heart...lovely ...have to make ese soon....

Federica Simoni said...

wow ma sono favolose!!! dai lanciamene una!!! ciaoooooo

Julie said...

These tarts look beautiful! And so delicious!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

I love savory tarts! Very yummy!

Cheers,

Rosa

Dewi said...

Such a perfect tart to enjoy during the weekend.

Unknown said...

Natalia - these look fabulous!! OMG! I must give them a shot. So yummy looking.

NKP said...

They are so cute and tasty looking! I could eat six, I'm sure!

Kim said...

The tarts are so cute and colorful. I bet they were also very flavorful:D

Chef Jules said...

Ciao Natalia,
I have just added you to my favourites, I enjoy your postings. The tartlets are nice, great for canapes if small enough.
You might be interested in my Zuccotto recipe.
Kind Regards
Chef Jules

Deb in Hawaii said...

Such beautiful little tarts--I love that the crust has polenta in it.