spinach & cheese mini tarts
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.
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
- 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
- Heat the oven to 350°F
- 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
- 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
- Bake: in the 350°F oven for about 20-25 minutes till pastry crust is done and golden brown
- Optional: garnish with chopped chives, spring onions or any other fresh herbs
Labels: baked, miscellaneous, snack, tart, vegetarian
13 Comments:
At 2:45 AM, Unknown said…
The cheese tarts looks absolutely delicious!!!
At 3:56 AM, Padmaja said…
Sheela
Love your dish, Combination of spinach n cheese is heavenly!!!
At 5:11 AM, 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, Unknown said…
I love this recipe. They look perfect for a party...and tasty too!
At 7:30 AM, TBC said…
That looks so good. What a great snack/appetizer!
At 8:02 AM, Laavanya said…
They look so cute and lovely. Am sure they tasted delicious too.. :)
At 9:33 AM, Rina said…
This is lovely. Never tried making them, always had store bought. Thx for sharing.
At 9:46 AM, 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, Dori said…
Yum, I'm a big spinach fan so these are looking too good!
At 3:53 PM, ServesYouRight said…
Yum! Such a versatile recipe!
At 7:28 AM, Mandira said…
Wow, this looks delicious. I have to try this soon...
At 4:07 AM, Latha Narasimhan said…
Lovely tarts!:) Nice stuffed naans too! You have nice recipes sheela!:) Tarts is a sure try!
At 5:18 PM, USMC Sis said…
This looks like a good snack food for parties.
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