Shortcrust tartlets with zucchini filling

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Today I'd like to share a recipe for light and ingenious party snacks. We'll prepare savoury shortcrust tartlets with zucchini filling, decorated with a bacon crisp.  


Same as with classic sweet tartlets, you can prepare the crusts ahead of time and fill them just before serving, but they'll keep in the fridge filled for two days anyway. The filling is stable and fresh in flavour thanks to mint, while bacon crisps are pleasing to the eye - and to the palate!

You'll find the list of ingredients, method and approximate nutritional value below.

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Ingredients (recipe makes 32 tartlets, 6 cm in diameter)

Crusts

  • 400 g wheat flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 200 g unsalted butter
  • 6 tbsp ice-cold water

Filling

  • 2 courgettes (~400 g)
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 6 g gelatin
  • 250 g soft cheese
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 twig fresh mint
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 200 g bacon
  • Pinch of paprika

Method

  1. Prepare shortcrust pastry. Into a large bowl put wheat flour and a generous pinch of salt. Mix through with a whisk. Add 200 g cold butter, straight out of a fridge. Combine fat with dry ingredients to wet sand consistency using a confectionery knife, a kitchen knife or fingers. If you're using your hands, be quick to prevent warming up the butter too much.
  2. Once you reach desired consistency, add 6 tbsp ice-cold water to the dough and start kneading by hand in the bowl. Turn the dough out onto the worktop and knead until smooth dough forms. Shape it into a ball, cover tightly with plastic wrap and put it into a fridge for at least 30 minutes.
  3. After half an hour take the dough out and put it onto a dusted worktop. Roll the dough out with a dusted rolling pin to around 3 mm thickness. Cut out discs of diameter slightly larger than your tartlet tins. Grease your tins and dust them with semolina. Put a disc of dough into each tin and press it down to remove air bubbles. Return the crusts to a fridge for 30 minutes.
  4. Prick the bottom of each shell with a fork. Line each shell with a piece of  baking paper and weigh them down with a tbsp of dry rice, dry beans or baking beans. 
  5. Bake the shells in a conventional oven preheated to 180 deg C for 15 minutes. Take the shells out of the oven and carefully remove baking paper and rice. Continue baking for 10 more minutes until shells are beautiful and golden.
  6. Take the shells out of the oven and set them aside for 10 minutes until slightly cooled and firmer. Take the shells out of the tins then and place them on a rack to cool completely.
  7. Prepare the filling. Rinse, pat dry and destem two medium zucchinis. Cut them into quarters and slice them up thinly. Heat a tbsp of vegetable oil in a large pan, add sliced zucchini and fry for a few minutes, stirring, until courgettes become softer and decrease in volume.
  8. Press in three garlic cloves. Continue frying for another minute or two until garlic releases aroma. Take the pan off heat, transfer the contents to a separate dish and set aside for 5 minutes to cool.
  9. Add 6 g gelatin to 60 ml hot water and stir until fully dissolved. Set aside to cool.
  10. Add 250 g soft cheese, 1 tbsp fresh mint and 2 tbsp lemon juice to courgettes. Blend into a smooth paste. Season to taste with salt and ground black pepper.
  11. Add a few tsp of zucchini filling to cool gelatin solution and stir until fully incorporated. Add tempered gelatin to the filling and mix thoroughly with a whisk. Put the filling into a fridge for 30 minutes to start setting. Fill each crust with 1 heaped tbsp of filling. Put the filled tartlets back into a fridge for 1 hour.
  12. Put bacon into a cold pan, turn on heat to medium low and slowly melt out the fat. Once bacon is golden and slightly stiffer, take it out of the pan and put onto a plate lined with kitchen towel to remove excess fat. Divide the bacon strips into smaller pieces and use them to decorate the tartlets. Sprinkle some paprika on top for added colour.
  13. Enjoy!

Approximate nutritional value

1 tartlet

  • 160 kcal
  • Carbs: 7 g 
  • Fat: 12 g
  • Protein: 3 g
  • Fibre: 1 g

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