Spinach Sorrel Tarts Recipes

CREAMED SPINACH TARTLETS

Steps:

• For the filling: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, fill a large bowl one-third full with ice. Add cold water to cover the ice. Set a colander into the bowl.
• In batches, cook the spinach in the boiling water just until bright green, about 1 minute. With tongs, immediately plunge the spinach into the colander to stop cooking and set the color. When all of the spinach is cooked and cooled, lift the colander from the water and squeeze out the excess water from the spinach. Chop the spinach and set aside.
• Melt the butter in a deep skillet or broad saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic; cook an additional minute, until toasted and fragrant. Add the cream, the blanched spinach and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil and cook until the cream has cooked down and thickened, about 15 minutes. Stir in the Parmesan, feta, white pepper, nutmeg and more salt to taste. Stir to blend, then remove from the heat.
• For the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Unroll the phyllo and cover it with a damp kitchen towel; keep the pastry covered while working to keep in the moisture. Cut the phyllo in half crosswise.
• Using a pastry brush, coat six 4 1/2-inch tart pans with melted butter. Gently lay a "square" of phyllo in one of the pans, letting it fall loosely into place. Brush with butter, covering the pastry sheet completely. Repeat with five additional sheets. Using kitchen shears, trim the excess dough, leaving a good 1 inch of overhang. Shape the phyllo around the perimeter of the tart pan to create an attractive, rustic edge. Repeat for the remaining five pastry tarts. Fill each tart with the creamed spinach mixture.
• Place the filled tart pans on a baking sheet. Bake on the center oven rack until the crust is golden brown, 30 minutes.

SPINACH-SORREL TARTS

Steps:

• Black-Pepper Pate Brisee: Preheat oven to 400 degrees, with rack in lowest position. Pulse flour, sugar, salt, and pepper in a food processor until combined. Add butter, and process until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. Drizzle 1/4 cup ice water over mixture. Pulse until mixture holds together when pressed between 2 fingers. If dough is too dry, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse. Shape dough into 2 disks, and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate dough until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.
• Filling: Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Cook onions, garlic, and red-pepper flakes until onions are softened and just starting to turn golden, about 10 minutes. Add spinach and sorrel, and cook, stirring with tongs, until greens just wilt, about 2 minutes. Let cool.
• Assembly: Roll out each piece of dough to an 11-by-14-inch rectangle on lightly floured parchment, and transfer to 2 baking sheets. Divide filling between rectangles, leaving a 2-inch border all around. Season filling with salt, and fold in edges of dough. Refrigerate 1 tart, and bake the other until edges are golden, about 35 minutes. Place half the cheese on top of filling, and bake until cheese is melted, 5 minutes more. Bake remaining tart in same manner. Serve tarts warm or at room temperature.

SORREL AND ONION TART

Steps:

• In a heavy, deep saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add onions. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are soft and translucent, about 15 minutes.
• Remove and discard the tough center ribs from the sorrel leaves. Bring a large stockpot of water to a boil, and add 2 teaspoons salt. Add sorrel, and cook just until the leaves wilt, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain sorrel in a colander, let cool, and squeeze out any excess liquid.
• Add sorrel, the remaining teaspoon salt, and the pepper to the onions; cook over low heat until mixture breaks down and is almost soupy, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat, and let cool.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment. On a lightly floured surface, roll one sheet of puff pastry into a 7-by-11-inch rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. Transfer the dough to one of the parchment-lined baking sheets, and chill in refrigerator 30 minutes. Repeat process with the second sheet of puff pastry. Remove both sheets of puff pastry from the refrigerator. Using a sharp knife, score a 1/2-inch border around perimeter of each sheet, creating a picture-frame look. Using a fork, prick the entire surface within the scored edges on each sheet. Make an egg glaze: In a small bowl, combine 1 egg yolk and 2 tablespoons heavy cream; carefully brush egg glaze onto the borders.
• Transfer both sheets of dough to oven, and bake until pastry has puffed up and is golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove pastry from oven, and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• Add the remaining egg yolk and remaining 2 tablespoons cream to the sorrel mixture, and stir to combine. Divide the filling in two, and spread one half over each puff pastry. Return the tarts to the oven, and bake until the filling is hot throughout, about 20 minutes. Remove the tarts from the oven, and transfer to a wire rack to cool, about 10 minutes. Cut tarts into 2-inch squares, and serve warm.

SPINACH AND ONION TART

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 10-inch tart pan and line it with the pastry. Keep it in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.
• Steam the spinach above an inch of boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes, until wilted. You will probably have to do this in batches. I like to use a pasta pot with an insert for steaming spinach, as I can get a lot of it into the insert. Rinse briefly with cold water, squeeze out excess water and chop medium-fine.
• Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy skillet and add the onion. Cook, stirring often, until it is tender and beginning to color, about 8 minutes. Add the spinach, thyme and salt and pepper to taste, and stir together. Remove from the heat.
• Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add salt to taste (I use about 1/2 teaspoon) and whisk in the milk. Stir in the onion and spinach mixture and the cheeses. Scrape into the pastry-lined tart pan. Place in the oven and bake 40 to 45 minutes, until tart is set and beginning to color on the top. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting. Serve warm or room temperature.

SPINACH AND SORREL SPANAKOPITA

Steps:

• Make Filling:
• Cook spinach according to package instructions. Drain in a colander, then refresh under cold running water to stop the cooking, and drain well again. Transfer spinach to a clean kitchen towel (not terry cloth) twisting the ends together, and squeeze as much liquid as possible from the spinach. Transfer spinach to a large bowl.
• Cook scallions with 1/4 teaspoon salt in olive oil in a 9- to 10-inch non-stick skillet over medium heat, stirring, until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add sorrel and cook, stirring and adding 1 tablespoon water if sorrel is dry, until wilted, about 1 minute (sorrel will turn khaki gray almost immediately when heated). Add sorrel mixture to spinach and stir well.
• Stir in yolk, then feta, nutmeg, dill, and salt and pepper to taste and combine mixture well.
• Form and Bake Phyllo Triangles:
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Cover phyllo stack with 2 overlapping sheets of plastic wrap and then a dampened kitchen towel.
• Take 1 phyllo sheet from stack and arrange on a work surface with a long side nearest you (keeping remaining sheets covered) and brush all over with some butter. Cut buttered phyllo stack lengthwise into 4 strips, each about 3-inches wide and 17- inches long.
• Put a heaping teaspoon of filling near 1 corner of a strip on end nearest you, then fold corner of phyllo over to enclose filling and form a triangle. Continue folding strip (like a flag), maintaining triangle shape. Brush triangle all over with butter. Put triangle, seam side down, on parchment-lined sheet. Make more triangles in same manner, using all of phyllo.
• For best results, freeze spanakopita until firm, about 20 minutes.
• Bake triangles in middle of oven until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool slightly.

LITTLE WILD SORREL AND HERB TARTS WITH MELTED GOAT'S CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 170C (325F, Gas mark 3). For the pastry, rub the butter into the flour and bind with the egg, then allow it to rest for half an hour. Roll out the pastry and line six individual tart tins or 1 large tin.
• Wash the spinach, sorrel and herbs if necessary and dry them well. Shred the spinach and sorrel. Heat a pan with a little oil and stir fry the spinach and sorrel until it collapses. Remove from the pan and spread out on a plate to allow it to cool quickly.
• Chop the herbs, crush a sliver of garlic and place in a bowl with the eggs and cream. Add the spinach and sorrel, the seasoning and the nutmeg. Spoon into the tarts. Cook in the oven until the egg mixture is just set, about 15-20 minutes. They do not need to be fully cooked. Allow to cool.
• To serve, take the tarts out of the tins and place on an oven tray. Increase the oven heat to 200C (400F, Gas mark 6). Place a thick slice of the goat's cheese on the top of each tart and put them back in the oven for about 10 minutes. Serve on a bed of dressed salad leaves.

SORREL-ONION TART

Steps:

• Prepare the tart dough, partially prebake it, and set it aside.
• Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a wide pan, add the onion and the salt. Cover the pan, and stew slowly until the onion is completely soft, about 10 minutes. Check it occasionally and give it a stir.
• While the onion is cooking, cut off the stems of the sorrel leaves and roughly slice the leaves. Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter in a pan, and add the sorrel by large handfuls. Although the amount of leaves will seem voluminous, they will quickly cook down to almost nothing. Cook over a low heat until they have wilted and turned a grayish-green color, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Whisk the eggs with the cream; then stir in the onion, sorrel, and half of the cheese. Taste for salt, and season with freshly ground black pepper.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F. Distribute the remaining cheese over the crust; then pour the filling on top. Bake in the center of the oven until the custard is set and well colored, about 35 to 40 minutes. Serve the tart while it is hot. For wine, consider serving a chardonnay or French white Burgundy.
• This tart is based on a recipe from Richard Olney's Simple French Food.

WOOD SORREL SAVORY ONION TART

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Heat butter over medium-low heat in a skillet. Cook and stir shallots and onion in butter until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes. Season with salt.
• Increase heat to medium. Pour white wine into the skillet and cook until evaporated. Stir in flour. Add sorrel and stir constantly for 1 minute. Remove from heat and let cool.
• While sorrel mixture is cooling, whisk together eggs, heavy cream, and black pepper in a large bowl.
• Combine sorrel mixture with egg mixture, 1/2 Gruyere cheese, and 1/2 Parmesan cheese. Pour mixture into the prepared pie crust. Top with remaining 1/2 Gruyere cheese and 1/2 Parmesan cheese.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean and tart is firm, about 1 hour.