Almond Mini Tarts

A friend of mine forwarded me a recipe for pecan pie tarts. It looked rather bland, but  a good starting point. After a few tweaks and substitutions, I came up with the recipe below. The almonds provide crunch, the edges are a little crisp, and the browned butter provides a great toasty flavor. This makes 18 tarts.

Ingredients

3/4 c.  almonds
1 stick of butter 
1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 c. packed light brown,sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
Dash cinnamon

Directions

1. Grease 2 mini muffin tins. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Toast the almonds in  a dry skillet over medium heat until they are light brown and you can smell them. Remove from heat and place in a medium sized bowl. 
3. Melt the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook, swirling the pan occasionally, until the butter begins to brown and has a nutty aroma. Let cool slightly, then add to bowl with the almonds. 
4. Stir in the flour, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt and cinnamon into the almond-butter mixture until combined.
5. Add to muffin tins, filling each cup about 3/4 of the way full. 
6. Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. 
7. Let cool 15-20 minutes, and enjoy!

Caramelized Onion and Sun-Dried Tomato Tart

The sweetness from the onions and sun-dried tomatoes goes great with the salty, tangy feta cheese.

 Ingredients:

1 sheet of refrigerated pie dough
2 tsp. olive oil
2 large onions, sliced
1 1/2 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
6 sun-dried tomatoes, halved
1/2 c. crumbled feta cheese
1/4 c.grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425F.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and thyme, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook for 20 minutes, stirring often. If the bottom of the pan (where the fond is) starts getting too dark, add a small amount of water and scrape up the brown bits. (Check out this post to learn more about fond!)
3. Place the cooked onions onto the pie dough, leaving a 1-inch border. Add the halved tomatoes and feta on top of the onions. Fold the edges of the dough towards the center, leaving an open 6-incharea in the middle.
4. Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. After removing from onion, sprinkle with the Parmesan. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

Savory Salsa Tart

This is another quick tart that I came up with last week, trying to use up some vegetables in the refrigerator.  Here's how I did it:

Ingredients:

• 2 zucchini, sliced
• 1 onion sliced
• 1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 sheet of puff pastry
• olive oil
• salt
• ground black pepper
• 2 Tbsp. salsa (I used a chipotle flavored salsa, but any kind would be good.)
• 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese

Place the zucchini, onion, and tomatoes on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with 2 Tbsp. olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Bake at 450 degrees for 10-15 minutes until the onions and zucchini develop a light golden color.

Roll out the puff pastry to remove any creases.  Fold in a 1/2 inch border on each side (this will rise as it bakes and create a crust for the tart.)  Prick the center of the tart a few times with a fork (this will prevent the middle  of the tart from rising too much.)  Spread the salsa on the tart, add the roasted vegetables, then the shredded cheese.   Bake at 450 degrees for 10-15 minutes until the crust is puffed and golden.

Enjoy!

Tarts - They're Not All Sweet

Some people think that tarts are only sweet dishes (lemon tart, pecan tart, etc.) but tarts can be savory too. A tart is basically just an open pie shell with a filling in it.  If you have basic ingredients on hand, you can quickly throw together a tart for dinner.

I like to use puff pastry for my tarts.  Puff pastry is made by repeatedly folding layers of butter in between dough. As the pastry heats in the oven, the butter releases steam, which causes the many layers to puff up.  The result is a buttery, but airy crust.  Frozen puff pastry is available in the freezer section of the grocery store and is really easy to work with - you just need to let it defrost in your refrigerator and keep it cold until you're ready to work with it.

You can use whatever combination of fillings/toppings in your tart.  I typically start with some kind of onion (yellow onion, red onion, leeks, scallions) which I slice, then saute in some butter until they start to caramelize.  That will go on the pastry as a base, and then I add additional ingredients.  Here's some combinations that I've made:

• Leeks, ricotta, salami, and grape tomatoes
• Yellow onion, gruyere, and potato
• Red onion, zucchini, and fontina

The tart gets baked for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees until it's puffed and golden.  If adding any fresh herbs, such as basil or parsley, I wait until the tart is out of the oven, so the herbs stay fresh and vibrant.  

Next time you're at the grocery store, grab some puff pastry, cheese, and vegetables to create your own quick and easy tart for dinner.  Once you make one, you'll see how simple it is and how many different combinations of toppings you can use.  Enjoy!