Slow-roasted tomato and chives tartlettes with feta ~ 慢烤番茄韭菜希臘羊乳酪鹹塔

Yup, I do savory and not just desserts =) I received some really awesome cook books from friends so I am very slowly testing out each one of the recipes in these books. First up is some tasty herb cheese tartlettes adopted from Maxine Clark’s - Tarts Sweet and Savory book.

I found that tarts/quiches are wonderfully versatile. Depending what you fill the shell with, it can either be simple or spectacular! They’re warm and comforting (quiche Lorraine) to be served over brunch with friends, elegant & posh (white liver and figs tart) enough for special dinner party, also dainty & sophisticated enough (like these tartlettes) to serve as hors d’oeuvres at your next cocktail party. Besides being versatile, they are incredibly simple to make too – just of a shell and filling - almost always failure proof!

These roasted tomato tartlettes got my full attention when I first flipped thru the book. Can you blame me though? Look how cute they are! Small cube of feta cheeses lurking in the creamy, herby filling, topped with the roasted tomatoes. Does that sounds good or what?! It tastes so creamy and cheesy. The shells were made of rich shortcrust pastry dough, which is wonderfully light and crumbly. I made the dough by hand but it can be made by using the food processor method too. Pâte brisée( French version shortcrust dough) is also a great alternative for this recipe.

I thought you should know:
- The shells can be made in advance and good up to 1 week – just put in airtight container and place in fridge. Reheat to crisp before filling.
- Dough must stay chilled. Only bring it out minute before use. This is to ensure the fat in the dough stay solid, which equals flaky crust
- Check often when roasting the tomatoes. Make sure they don’t get over baked or they will taste bitter.
- Store the remaining tomatoes in a jar and cover with olive oil.

Rich shortcrust pastry dough

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
½ tsp salt
9 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and diced
2 large egg yolks
2 tbsp ice water

Sift the flour and salt together into a bowl then rub in the butter. Mix the egg yolks with the 2 tablespoons ice water then add to the flour. Mix the flour mixture lightly with a knife. If the dough is too dry, add a little more water, sprinkling it over the flour mixture 1 tablespoon at a time. Invert the mixture onto a lightly floured pastry board or work surface. Knead lightly with your hands until smooth. Form the dough into a ball. Flatten slightly, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for an hour on warm weather days (30 minutes on cold days) before rolling out.

Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C. Rollout the dough as thinly as possible on a lightly floured pastry board. Use a 2-inch diameter round cookie cutter to stamp out 24 circles. Line the muffin pan with the dough circles, then prick the bases with a fork and chill or freeze for 15 minutes. Line each muffin cup with foil, then fill with pie weight/baking beans/uncooked rice. Bake blind for 15 minutes. Remove foil and pie weight, return the pan to the oven for 10 minutes longer. Remove from the pans and let cool.



Slow-roasted tomato and chives tartlettes with feta - makes 24 tartlettes

Slow-roasted tomatoes
16 ripe cherry or cocktail tomatoes
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
½ tsp. sea salt
Lots of freshly ground black pepper

Chives & herb cheese filling
1/3 cup garlic flavor Boursin cheese or 3oz full-fat soft cheese w/ garlic and herbs
¼ cup chopped fresh chives (or basil, parsley and other herbs you fancy)
1 large egg, beaten
2/3 cup heavy cream
3oz feta cheese
Pinch of sea salt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

tiny sprigs of herbs, to serve

Preheat oven to 325°F/160°C. Cut the tomatoes in half horizontally. Arrange cut side up on a parchment paper lined baking sheet or a jelly roll pan. Put the chopped garlic, olive oil, and lots of ground pepper into a bowl and mix well, then brush over the cut tomatoes. Bake slowly in the oven for 1 ½ hours, checking every now and then. When they are slightly shrunk and still a brilliant red color then remove them from oven.

Put the soft cheese into a bowl, add the egg, cream, salt, chopped chives, and beat until smooth. Set aside. Cut the feta into 24 small cubes that will fit inside the tart crusts.

Set the crusts in the muffin pan, put a cube of feta into each one, and top with the herb cheese mixture. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until the filling is set. Remove from oven. Top each with a tomato half, and a thyme, rosemary sprig or chive stem. Serve warm.

除了做甜點﹐我偶爾也會做簡單的輕食喔~ Well﹐太複雜的料理我也不會做的﹗ 朋友們愛送我烹飪書﹐說要我做給他們吃。書收了不少﹐是時候清一清書債了 =) 就從這個擁有獨特風味的香醇濃郁的慢烤番茄韭菜希臘羊乳酪鹹塔做起吧﹗食譜修改自Maxine Clark的Tarts Sweet and Savory一書。Maxine Clark是歐洲有名的料理老師。她為很多烹飪雜誌像BBC Good Food﹑Food & Travel寫食譜更是有名的food stylist。她的specialty就是做塔﹐是極負盛名的塔派達人﹗我想跟她做一定不會錯的^^

套用Clark老師的話﹐鹹塔不止是家常菜﹐它可是具有變化萬千的風味的一道料理喔﹗它的特色在於它的內餡﹐要家常還是精緻的口味就看妳用什麼樣的餡料囉^^ 和友人享受下午茶時可以來個內含滑蛋﹑培根的熱呼呼的Quiche Lorraine ﹐聚餐時若是用雞白肝配無花果的內餡又變成優雅的餐點﹐開雞尾酒party的時候做成小巧細緻的模樣像這番茄韭菜希臘羊乳酪鹹塔又是令人垂涎的迷人hors d’oeuvres。你說鹹塔是不是五花八門又滋味無窮呀?﹗還有就是這幾乎是零失敗的一道料理。有難度的只有塔皮﹐但是只要不過度的搓揉麵糰就一定會做出酥脆的口感。塔皮也可用食物處理機來製造﹐比用手揉簡便多了。我做的塔皮是basic的油酥麵糰﹐但你可改用法式油酥麵糰 - pâte brisée - 我想應該會更香更酥喔~

在翻這本Tarts Sweet and Savory的時候看到這個番茄韭菜希臘羊乳酪鹹塔的當下就決定一定要做來吃。看它小小的多彩繽紛的模樣實在是太可愛了~~~~~~~~~那味道美味可口極了﹗是我的那杯茶。。呵呵呵。。。香酥脆口的塔皮，內含香濃韭菜希臘羊乳酪餡料﹐搭配番茄的自然鮮甜﹐牽引出feta cheese那濃郁香味獨特的滋味。那細緻富層次的口感，讓我享用時嘴角一直上揚﹐吃的津津有味﹐好幸福喔 =)



要注意什麼呢?
- 塔皮可提前烤好。將塔皮包好放進密閉容器中﹐可冷藏存放達一個星期。食用時﹐放烤箱烘烤讓其恢復酥脆的口感。
- 在常溫下以手來揉麵糰﹐奶油很快就會融解。儘可能在製造塔皮前才從冰箱中取出。
- 烤番茄時要不時的打開烤箱﹐預防烤焦。
- 將多出來的烤番茄和橄欖油 (覆蓋烤番茄的量)一起倒進密閉容器中﹐可冷藏存放一個星期。

慢烤番茄韭菜希臘羊乳酪鹹塔 - 24個迷你鹹塔
2個12個分muffin模具

鹹塔皮
2杯 中筋麵粉
½ 茶匙 鹽巴
9湯匙 冷凍無鹽奶油/牛油﹐切成小方塊
2個 蛋黃
2湯匙 冰水

製作塔皮：
將混合過篩的麵粉﹑鹽巴倒入mixing bowl內﹐加入切成小方塊的冰奶油﹐用兩手搓揉至奶油和粉類變成鬆散的砂狀。在中央挖出一個小洞﹐倒入打散的蛋黃及冰水﹐邊將小洞週圍的粉類撥入中央﹐略為翻拌。若是麵粉過乾﹐加入1湯匙冰水﹐如果看起來還是很乾再加1湯匙冰水至聚集成糰塊。將麵糰放在撒上麵粉的工作台上﹐揉至軟滑成球狀。輕壓成扁圓片﹐蓋上保鮮膜﹐放進冰箱靜置60分鐘醒麵。

烤箱預熱至400℉/200℃。取出麵糰﹐放在撒上麵粉的工作台上﹐將麵糰桿成薄片後用直徑2吋的圓的餅乾刀具吸出24個圓形薄片。鋪進muffin模具裡﹐壓實塔皮底及塔皮壁﹐用叉子將塔皮底整體叉出小洞。蓋上保鮮膜﹐放進冰箱冷藏15分鐘。

在每個塔皮鋪上烘焙用紙﹐加入pie weights 或乾豆至半滿﹐放入烤箱烤15分鐘。取去烘焙用紙及pie weights﹐繼續烤10分鐘或至塔皮呈金黃色。取去﹐放涼。



慢烤蕃茄
16個 櫻桃蕃茄
3瓣 大蒜﹐切成茸
¼杯 橄欖油
½茶匙 海鹽
適量 現磨黑胡椒粉

韭菜希臘羊乳酪餡料
1/3杯 蒜香風味Boursin乳酪或 3oz加了蒜茸及香草的軟乳酪
¼杯 新鮮西韭菜*﹐切成粗末 (也可以改用羅勒﹐洋芫荽等)
1個 全蛋﹐打散
2/3杯 鮮奶油
3oz 希臘羊乳酪/feta cheese**
適量 海鹽
適量 現磨黑胡椒粉
裝飾用枝梗(百里香﹐薰衣草等)

**Feta Cheese ~ 羊乳酪原產地為希臘，其偏鹹的滋味中帶些微酸是特色。由希臘當地所產的羊乳酪在經過壓榨後泡於酸液「Brine」裡再泡在鹽水中發酵製造成的所以又稱為「鹽水乳酪」。至少要有70%綿羊奶，餘下的只可用山羊奶，絕不可用牛奶，才配得上Feta之名。柔軟的乳白色的Feta Cheese有著獨特的口感及風味。有別於其他soft cheese ﹐初次品嚐時，覺得很鹹，有點抗拒。為了減低鹹味，應先浸泡於冷水中幾分鐘再食用。漸漸的你會像我這樣愛上這種濃郁香味獨特的滋味哦^^

*Chives學名蝦夷蔥又名細香蔥及西韭菜。原產於歐洲和北美，不過很早以前就被引進亞洲了。不論中式、西式或者日式料理中，都能見到chives的影子。儘管它多數並不會是主菜，但卻是許多美食不可或缺的自然點綴。

烤蕃茄的做法：
烤箱預熱至325℉/160℃。把櫻桃蕃茄洗乾淨﹐抹乾﹐去蒂﹐橫的切成兩半。將切半的櫻桃蕃茄平均的攤開在烤盤裡 - 切面向上。將蒜茸﹑橄欖油﹑現磨黑胡椒粉混合攪拌後﹐掃在櫻桃蕃茄上﹐放進烤箱烘烤90分鐘 (要不時的打開烤箱﹐預防烤焦) 。當蕃茄明顯的變軟但還是鮮紅色就烤好了。

製作乳酪餡料：
碗裡加進蒜香風味Boursin乳酪﹑打發過的蛋汁﹑鮮奶油﹑海鹽﹑及韭菜末﹐打發至變順滑﹐備用。將希臘羊乳酪切成24小塊。塔皮放回muffin模具裡﹐每個放進希臘羊乳酪丁﹐再倒入乳酪餡料。放進烤箱用325℉/160℃烘烤15 - 20分鐘。取去﹐在每個塔裡放上一塊烤番茄﹐插上裝飾用枝梗即可。