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Thursday, October 25, 2007

spinach & cheese mini tarts

tartlets-1


On a Sunday a few weeks ago, Ana was taking a nap, D was out at the hardware store or something and I was home dreaming about some deep fried yummy mini samosas. Since I had sort of foolishly, on a whim, told D that I wasn't going to make any fried foods that weekend, I didn't want to give him a chance to say A-ha! I told you...

I thought of baking the samosas instead of deep frying. It didn't feel right, somehow. Am not against baked samosas, and am generally (well, predominantly) a healthy cook and eater, but, I didn't want baked samosas just then.

So, I decided to bake savory mini tarts instead. And, that's how these cute little vegetarian tarts came about.

The filling is just spinach, peas & onions, sautéed with spices, combined with some cheese.

tartlets-2


Ingredients
dough:
1 cup flour, plus some for dusting
¼ tsp salt
5 Tbsp butter (or canola oil)
a few Tbsp water
filling:
¼ cup cream cheese
¼ cup ricotta cheese
¼ cup grated cheddar
1 cup frozen cut spinach, thawed (or equivalent fresh spinach)
handful of frozen peas
1 small yellow onion diced finely
1 tsp canola oil
1 tsp Madras curry powder
salt to taste


Preparation
  1. Dough: combine the flour and salt in a bowl; rub in the butter to form coarse crumbly mixture; stir in just a few tablespoons of water, a little at a time till the dough comes together; cover with a cling wrap and leave in the fridge for about 30 minutes
  2. Heat the oven to 350°F
  3. Filling: heat the oil in a pan, add the onions, sauté till translucent, add the peas and spinach, spices, salt and cook till done, making sure the mixture is dry not runny; combine the cheeses in a separate bowl and keep handy
  4. Assembly: take the dough from the fridge, roll out into 1/8th inch thick flat layer, cut out 3-inch rounds using a biscuit cutter; grease a muffin tin and line it with dough rounds; add the filling - both veggies and cheese
  5. Bake: in the 350°F oven for about 20-25 minutes till pastry crust is done and golden brown
  6. Optional: garnish with chopped chives, spring onions or any other fresh herbs

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13 Comments:

  • At 2:45 AM, Blogger Unknown said…

    The cheese tarts looks absolutely delicious!!!

     
  • At 3:56 AM, Blogger Padmaja said…

    Sheela

    Love your dish, Combination of spinach n cheese is heavenly!!!

     
  • At 5:11 AM, Blogger Swaroopa said…

    pics looks temptingly gr8. im sure u enjoyed munching on them. wanna try them soon. hey can i use wheat flour instead of all purpose flour? for health reasons u c....

     
  • At 6:52 AM, Blogger Unknown said…

    I love this recipe. They look perfect for a party...and tasty too!

     
  • At 7:30 AM, Blogger TBC said…

    That looks so good. What a great snack/appetizer!

     
  • At 8:02 AM, Blogger Laavanya said…

    They look so cute and lovely. Am sure they tasted delicious too.. :)

     
  • At 9:33 AM, Blogger Rina said…

    This is lovely. Never tried making them, always had store bought. Thx for sharing.

     
  • At 9:46 AM, Blogger Sheela said…

    cinnamon:
    padmaja:
    erin:
    tbc:
    laavanya:
    reena:
    thanks a bunch for taking the time to stop by and encourage me!

    swaroopa: sure, i think you can use any flour - even rye flour or buckwheat - the taste will be different, of course; plus, you might have to adjust the water/butter proportions and cooking method if the flour contains more gluten than the unbleached all-purpose flour... this recipe barely uses 1 cup flour, so, am not sure if it matters which flour you use :)

     
  • At 1:27 PM, Blogger Dori said…

    Yum, I'm a big spinach fan so these are looking too good!

     
  • At 3:53 PM, Blogger ServesYouRight said…

    Yum! Such a versatile recipe!

     
  • At 7:28 AM, Blogger Mandira said…

    Wow, this looks delicious. I have to try this soon...

     
  • At 4:07 AM, Blogger Latha Narasimhan said…

    Lovely tarts!:) Nice stuffed naans too! You have nice recipes sheela!:) Tarts is a sure try!

     
  • At 5:18 PM, Blogger USMC Sis said…

    This looks like a good snack food for parties.

     

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