Sunday, July 30, 2006

Combinations #4

Basic Juice is hosting this month's Combinations and they've gone green - green with herbs that is. A bit of a twist on the theme, we're to use at least 3 fresh herbs and find some wine to match.


Herbs are something I use quite a bit in the kitchen so I thought I'd utilise three staples and turn them into a nice light tart, perfect for a weekend lunch. I should add that the three main herbs used are Thyme, Basil and Chives.

tart

Roasted Baby Roma Tomato and Fetta Tarts
Makes 2 x 15cm tarts

½ portion Shortcrust Pastry
10 slow roasted baby roma tomatoes, depending on tomato size cut them in half
a few pieces of Marinated fetta, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons fresh chopped chives,
6 large Basil leaves, ripped roughly
2 eggs
½ cup cream

Make the tart shells:
Roll out the pastry and line two 15cm tart tins, leave a little overhanging to compensate in case of shrinkage. Let this rest an hour. Cover with baking paper and fill with weights. Cook in a preheated 180°C/350°F oven for around 15 minutes or until the pastry is starting to become golden. Remove paper and weights.

Make the filling:
Place the eggs and cream in a bowl and whisk until amalgamated. I find I don't need to use salt and pepper here as the tomatoes and fetta are already seasoned.

Prepare the tarts:
Place the par-cooked tart shells onto a baking tray - this makes it easier to place into the oven and helps contain any spills, if they occur.
Place the tomato pieces in each of the pie shells, then add the fetta. Sprinkle over with the basil and chives. Pour in the filling and place back into the oven and cook until the filling has set - this should take between 10-15 minutes.

Remove from the tins and serve immediately.

tart

Hey, but what about the wine?

We tasted this with two wines - a Hungarian Bor Forrás and Loire Sancerre.

The Sancerre is 100% Sauvignon Blanc, not quite as acidic as Australian versions tend to be, it certainly tasted better with the tart than it did without.

The Bor Forrás is a sweeter styled red wine with berry flavours and hints of honey. This went surprising well with the tart - the berry characteristics matched with the flavoursome tomatoes and the residual sweetness was a good foil for the herbs (especially nice with the chive flavours).

It's not the result that I had initially expected but the Bor Forrás wins!

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2 comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 30, 2006

    I love all the herbs (and the feta) in this tart! Sounds so appetizing!

    Paz

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Paz - Thanks - it was thoroughly enjoyed and probably something I should make more often.

    ReplyDelete

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