River Cottage Great Pies
Gelf Alderson
Bloomsbury, £22 Hardback, Photography © Emma Lee
These Cheesy Tarts Make the Perfect Packable Lunch
Beans, cheese, and a little kick of chilli - what could be better?
These spicy little numbers are great eaten hot from the oven or cooled and packed away for lunch. Make sure you push a good helping of cheese into each tart, as the creamy mozzarella really makes these special. Use tinned ready-cooked beans for convenience and use any combo of beans you fancy. And, as always with chilli, up the heat or lower it, according to your tolerance.
Makes
6
Ingredients
- 500g shortcrust pastry
- Flour, to dust
- Egg wash (beaten egg)
- For the filling
- 2 balls of mozzarella (125g each)
- 250g shallots, halved
- 3 garlic cloves, sliced
- 4 sprigs of thyme
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium-heat red chilli, deseeded and finely diced
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 200g passata
- 400g tin mixed beans, drained and rinsed
- 200g cherry vine tomatoes
- Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4.
Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and use to line six individual 10cm tart tins placed on a baking sheet. Prick the pastry, line with baking paper and baking beans and bake blind for 15 minutes, then trim and seal.
For the filling, tear the mozzarella into pieces, place in a sieve and leave to drain for at least 30 minutes.
Turn the oven up to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Put the shallots, garlic and thyme into a roasting tray. Trickle over the olive oil, season with salt and pepper and tumble everything together. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through.
Take out the roasting tray, add the chilli, cumin, passata, beans and cherry tomatoes and give everything a good stir. Return to the oven and cook for a further 10 minutes, stirring halfway through. Remove and taste for seasoning; adjust accordingly. Allow to cool.
Spoon the spiced vegetable mixture into the tart cases and divide the mozzarella between them, pushing it into the filling. Bake in the oven for 10–15 minutes until the cheese is melted.
Leave to stand for a few minutes then carefully remove the tarts from the tins. Serve hot or at room temperature, with lots of peppery leaves.
