I have finally almost recovered from the whole ulcers/food poisoning/heat exhaustion shebang. I’m now 2kgs lighter (I’m sure they will creep back on soon enough) and still slightly sleep deprived. But I do feel more human like. This is the week I will catch up with all my back-logs (expect me spamming your feeds with new posts) and well, all those songs aren’t going to write themselves.
I can never get enough of Quiches and Tarts. Lucky I wasn’t born as a man or my machoness would be constantly tested. Oh, that was a bad one wasn’t it? I need to write more to stimulate my brain for some legitimate wit. Anyway, I have posted several versions shortcrust pastry in the past, but today I’m going to share a cheat’s version with Filo Pastry (store bought, I don’t think I’ll ever acquire the skill to roll these babies out).
Filo (or Phyllo) pastry are these paper-thin sheets/dough and quite intimidating to work with if you are using it for the first time. It does require rather delicate touch but they are so versatile and can be used in savoury and sweet dishes. My favourite usage for Filo is of course the good ol’ Spanakopita. Today, I shaped the pastry into little ‘cups’ to hold my fillings and they turned out like flowers! I made these for a party not long ago after I ran out of my own shortcrust pastry. The crispy multiple layered buttery crust works really well with the soft eggy centre.
Even though the title says ‘cheat’, you do need to spend quite some time layering the pastry and brushing butter in between. The more layers you use, the fluffier and crispier the crust will be. Mmmmm. It can be a fun exercise if you involve your friends/family. My recipe only make 4 little tarts but you can always multiply them!
Cheat’s Spinach and Bacon Tarts
70g Spinach, chopped
2 Strips of Bacon, thinly sliced
Quarter of onion, finely diced
2 eggs
2 tablespoons cream
1 tablespoon Ricotta
Pinch of shredded Parmesan
Salt and Pepper
50g Butter, melted
Filo Pastry dough, 4 sheets (1 whole sheet should be enough for one tart)Preheat the oven to 180C
In a pan, fry the bacon without oil (the tip is to throw them in when the pan is still cold), then add the onion and spinach to cook for 2-3 minutes. Let cool.
In a bowl, whisk egg, cream, ricotta, salt and pepper together and set aside.
To make the Filo pastry ‘cup’, first brush the cupcake baking tray with butter. Cut the pastry into little square (about 7-8cm, you should get 8 with one sheet), begin build your cup by laying the pastry carefully into the tin, brushing the top with butter before laying the next layer, rotating the sheet as you go. 8 layers will be enough to hold the filling. Continue until you get all 4 cups done.
Divide the spinach/bacon/onion mixture into 4 and fill the pastry. Then pour in the egg mixture (about 4 tablespoons each). Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top. Once you are done with the filling. Take the pastry brush and brush butter on the outside of the pastry, bringing the edges in so the filling won’t leak during baking.
Bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown. Let cool slightly before serving. Good with a side of salad or as they are.
Want to see the inside? Here it is:
You can substitute the butter for some extra virgin olive oil too, if you wish. The pastry stays crispy for quite a long time but they are best to be eaten on the same day.
Before I finish, I guess it wouldn’t hurt for me to remind you that the voting for Asian Food Channel’s Foodie Cook Off will end in a few days time so if you haven’t voted for me, please head over to http://woobox.com/sc9r9f/vote/for/661716. It only takes a couple of clicks! Thank you so much.
Have a great week ahead and Happy Father’s Day to all fathers (except the fathers in Oz as they celebrate this in Sept…. something that I’d never understand)! Turns out that many countries celebrate Father’s day on different dates, if you must know here’s what wikipedia says.
Kelly Siew Cooks 
yikes. hopefully all those troubles will be the last ones for 2013, and you’ll be hale and hearty for the rest of the year =) and yay for spinach. it’s been one of my favorite veggies since i was a kid. and i do remember being seven years old and believing that i’d get as strong as popeye by quickly gobbling my spoonfuls of spinach. i’d eat them up and then try to lift chairs and tables in the house 😀
You sounded just like my brother lol! Popeye was one of his heroes.
I’ve always found filo pastry to be quite fiddly to deal with. All those layers and all that brushing! These spinach and bacon tarts do look delicious though, and they look much prettier with filo than puff pastry. Probably worth giving filo another go!
Much less work doing these small cups as compared to a big spanakopita. I love the crispy layers. Once you get used to it, it’s more fun than fiddly I think.
lovely! I just quiches and pies…. using Filo is such a great idea as I imagine this would be really crisp and light with creamy filling…yum!!
good luck Kelly on the AFC competition!
Very different texture compared to shortcrust pastry. But of course I am still loyal to the shortcrust base!
Kelly, love your tarts! They look rather pretty baked in muffin pans.
So easy to make too! Very different texture to the usual shortcrust base.
Look so awesome. Wish I could try one…
I already had 2, reserving half for the other half. Hehe. These are simple and tasty and the buttery crust is just divine.
Yummm! I’m gonna give it a try! I have filo pastry in my fridge! 🙂 Thanks for sharing ❤
Nice! I can never seem to finish filo pastry, I have used this particular pack for 3 times now!
what a great tip and recipe! LOL
Easy enough for everyone to try!
Oh gosh that’s horrible that you’ve been sick for so long 😦 I’m also on my 3rd course of antibiotics this year because of some infection sigh hope we’re both clear of it now and wont need them anymore ~
I love filo pastry but agree with Libby that it’s quite fiddly and hard to manage and always dried out on me hahaa but will need to try this recipe soon 😉
Actually it’s been just over a week but feels damn long because I had to go through all my gigs with that! The beauty of Malaysian humid weather hahaha, the filo pastry doesn’t dry out!
I’m glad to hear that you’re feeling better Kelly! It must have been so rough on you 😦 This is a gorgeous looking tart-love the flaky pastry!
Hehehe I’m such a whiny poo! 😛 but at least now I am back to normal with few extra days to rest.
May I know where did you buy the Filo pastry?
I do most of my shopping at Village Grocer. You should be able to find it at Cold storage or any supermarket that sells imported stuff.