Mediterranean vegetable tartlets
Ingredients:
3 onions peeled and roughly diced.
1 bulb garlic peeled and chopped.
3 peppers, de-seeded and chopped.
2 courgettes, chopped.
1 large handful dried tomatoes, soaked and chopped.
3 tomatoes, chopped.
4-6 slices ham or bacon.
2 handfuls pitted olives, halved.
4 mushrooms, sliced.
Leaves from a large handful thyme.
Leaves from 3 twigs rosemary.
500g shortcrust pastry.
4 eggs, beaten.
3 tablespoons cream.
Method:
Sauté the onions and garlic in a little oil until softened.
In a separate pan, sauté the peppers until softened then add the courgettes, tomatoes, ham, olives, mushrooms and herbs.
Add the onion and garlic to the rest of the vegetables, mix and allow to cool a little.
Roll out the pastry and line individual loose-bottomed tartlet tins. Prick the bases with a fork and press a piece of kitchen foil over the pastry (easier than using beans when baking blind).
Cook the pastry cases Gas 6 for 10 minutes, remove the foil and brush the pastry with beaten egg.
Return to the oven for another 2 minutes for “waterproofed” pastry cases.
Fill each case with vegetable mix.
Beat the cream in to the remaining eggs and divide between the tartlets.
Cook Gas 4 for about 15 minutes until the custard is setting.
My Tips:
This quantity made 10 tartlets (foil wrap and freeze once cooked for another day) plus 2 Mediterranean salmon crumbles (poached salmon portions topped with the veg and a savoury crumble of oats, hazelnuts, dried stuffing mix and butter) plus a final portion of veg to serve another day! I used “black” garlic which I wouldn’t recommend as it darkened all the vibrant colours of the vegetables.