The Jolly Kitchen

These mini tarts are really wonderful and make a great lunch for the kiddo. I give him 1/2 a tart,some veggies, and fruit and he is happy. I made them in actual mini tart pans, but the recipe called for a muffin tin. I made 6 of them, but I froze 4 of them right away. If you try this recipe, I have to warn that it calls for only 2 tbsp of water to make the crust, but I had to add more than that. I just kept adding in small increments until the dough formed a ball and was not dry. The key with making a pastry dough is to not "work" the dough too much. I used my food processor to make the dough. If you do that, make sure you use the PULSE feature to go slowly. Also, I added a bit of chopped ham to egg mixture.


Mini Tarts
2/3 cup milk
4 free range eggs, lightly beaten
2 1/2 oz grated cheddar cheese
1 tomato, sliced into 8 circles
freshly ground pepper, salt to taste

Dough:
1 1/3 cups wholewheat plain flour
3 1/2 oz cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
pinch of salt


1. Sift the flour into a bowl, adding any bran left in the sifter. Rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips until it forms breadcrumbs. Pour in 2 tbsp of iced water and stir with a fork, then your hands, until it forms a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill 30 minutes.
2. Grease an 8 cup deep muffin pan. Roll out the dough on a floured surface and use to line the holes, leaving dough slightly on top. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Chill the dough shells 15 minutes.
3. Bake the dough shells 6 minutes then remove from the oven. Whisk the eggs and milk together and season. Sprinkle the cheese into the shells, add the egg mixture and a slice of tomato, and bake 15 minutes until set.
4. Cool slightly before removing with a paring knife.