Mixed vegetables

It’s nice to have friends in the right places. One of our old chums works for ITC Welcomgroup. The first thing she did when she joined the organisation almost a quarter of a century ago was to get us hooked on to ham tarts. For all occasions — birthdays, anniversaries, All Saints’ Day, bad hair day and so on — she gets us a box of those delicious tarts stuffed with ham and mushroom. The pastry is crisp, the filling is soft — and one can eat a whole boxful with ease.

Good tarts — though some may say that’s an oxymoron! — are truly out of this world. The sweet tarts — with a filling of, say, apple or berries — are of course great to eat, but I am particularly fond of a savoury filling — with pieces of crispy duck or spring vegetables, sausages and onion, potatoes and fish or a filling of prawn mixed with small pieces of zucchini.

Apple tart

One of my favourite restaurants in Calcutta, Tangerine, does some interesting tarts. Chef Subhash Basu, who is in charge of the Continental section, makes a mean baked salmon, spinach and prawn tart, one with caramelised onion, and a ham and mushroom tart .

I remember reading in one of my cookbooks that making the pastry for a tart is not an esoteric art. There is one simple rule: keep cool — not just your head, but your hands, ingredients and equipment. For instance, use very little water to bind the dough, and the water that you use should be ice cold in warm weather. When you are rubbing the fats, use just the tips of your fingers to keep the mixture cool.

Rest the pastry for about 30 minutes before baking it, for that reduces shrinkage during cooking. Wrap the shell in cling-film and refrigerate it. That will ensure that the pastry doesn’t get too dry. A dry pastry forms a skin which cracks when you bake it.

If you are making the shell at home, pay heed to the fat that you use. Unsalted butter works best, for it gives a nice colour and flavour to the dough. Some experts believe that you get the best crust when you mix equal quantities of butter or margarine with lard or white vegetable fat.

These days, of course, you get readymade tart shells in many departmental stores, so you don’t really have to go through the rigour of preparing it at home. Chef Basu uses pizza bases for open tarts, and layered filo sheets for his ham and mushroom tart.

I find that small tarts — or tartlets — make for great appetisers. I am particularly fond of a tartlet cooked with spinach and cheese with bits of mushroom in it. Even some of the bigger tarts can be quartered and served as appetisers. You just can’t go wrong with them.

Prawn and salmon

The nice bit about a tartlet is that it’s easy to eat. You can pop it into your mouth and then daintily dab your mouth and fingers with a napkin. And tarts can be heavy, so if you serve them as hors d’oeuvres they keep you going till dinner. You can, for instance, prepare a prawn and zucchini tartlet by first frying zucchini matchsticks in butter. Add some flour and gradually stir in hot milk, till the sauce is thick and smooth. When it cools, stir in small prawns, beaten eggs and cheddar cheese. Now just bake it in a pastry shell, after sprinkling some cheese on top.

Tarts, of course, also make for great desserts. So you can always have a filling of something like mashed pumpkin with sugar, topped with a bit of whipped cream, to wow guests after the main course.

Indeed, it’s easy to fall in love with tarts. And I don’t care how awful that sounds.

Caramelised onion tart

Ingredients (for six)

• 6 frozen pizza base • 1tbs butter • 1tsp sugar • 360gm thinly sliced onion • 1tbs chopped garlic • Thyme, a pinch • 8tbs tomato paste • 3 small tomatoes • Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Cut the pizza base into a 10-cm round. Cut the small tomatoes into half. Cook the tomatoes in an oven uncovered after sprinkling salt and pepper on it. Cook till it is half dry. Keep aside. Heat sugar till brown. Add slices of onion. Add butter and thyme and cook on slow fire to caramelise. Spread tomato paste on the pizza base, top with cooked onion and tomato halves. Bake uncovered in an oven for 15 minutes until brown. Serve hot.

Ham and mushroom filo tart

Ingredients (for four)

• 4tbs melted butter • 6 slices of diced ham • 150gm sliced button mushroom • 50gm thinly sliced leek • 2tbs chopped garlic • 10ml white wine • Chopped rosemary, a pinch • 60gm ricotta or cheddar • 15ml cream lNutmeg powder, a pinch • Black pepper, to taste • 2 eggs • 8 sheets of filo pastry

Method

Sauté onion, garlic and mushroom over high heat till the mushrooms are brown. Cool slightly. Put mushrooms in a bowl. Add cheese, eggs, nutmeg and pepper. Add diced ham and fold into the mixture. Lay four sheets of filo on top of each other, brushing each sheet with melted butter. Cut them into four even strips. Do the same with the other four sheets. Place each piece in a tart mould and press lightly. Spoon the filling into the case. Bake for 8-10 minutes until light golden. Leave for a few minutes before gently easing out of the mould. Serve with a crisp green salad.