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

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