Souflee tarts

These were inspired by Raymond Blanc's current TV program: The very hungry Frenchman.

Essentially we are making a quiche, but the baked mixture is a souflee mix, rather than the conventional custard: the results are wonderfully light, and the flavours are what I can only describe as 'expanded'. I urge you to make these. Now.

The amounts mentioned assume we're making 2 tarts.

For each tart:

Pastry Base:

I used bought shortcrust pastry, but if you have the time, make your own.

Start the oven to pre-heat to 170 c.

Roll the pastry out (floured work surface, floured rolling pin) until it is 2-3 mm thick. Line a 15 cm. loose-base tart tin with the pastry, making sure the pastry is eased into the base and pinch/raise the edges to 2mm above the tin edge. Prick the base all over with a fork and refrigerate to relax the pastry.

Bake the tart shells until lightly browned, around 20 minutes.

Filling base:

Make a veloute by putting a walnut sized lump of butter into a pan over a gentle heat and then stir in an equal amount of white flour. Stir until the flour is just taking on a very light colour. Stir in milk until the mixture makes a thick sauce, beating quickly to avoid lumps. Stir in half a teaspoon of Dijon mustard. Off the heat, stir in two egg yolks (keep the whites for the next step). This makes 2 measures of filling, and is intended for two tarts.

In a clean bowl, beat three egg whites with a few drops of lemon juice until they form soft peaks. (reserve the last egg yolk for sealing the bases).

Filling 1)

Slice half a chicken breast and 4 mushrooms very thinly. Melt some butter in a pan and throw the chicken pieces in, stirring until they turn white (2 minutes or so). Add the mushrooms and stir for another minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in half of the filling base.

Add a quarter of the egg whites and stir to mix. Fold in another quarter of the eggs whites very gently, just to amalgamate.

Filling 2)

Dice some lightly smoked salmon. Stir in half of the filling base.

Add a quarter of the egg whites and stir to mix. Fold in another quarter of the eggs whites very gently, just to amalgamate.

Pre-baking:


Heat oven to 180c.

Brush the baked tart bases with the remaining egg yolk and bake for 2 minutes to seal the base. Remove from the oven for filling.

Building the tarts:

Grate some Cheddar or Gruyere cheese over the base to lightly cover. Spread the filling over the base, piling slightly in the centre. Bake for 20 minutes.

Eat and smile.