roasted vegetable tarts
Dive into these tarts - made without any gluten, wheat or dairy!
The sweetness of the roasted vegetables in here makes these utterly delicious – and the colors make them a show-stopper. Feast on them for dinner but they work equally well cold in a picnic, with a salad for lunch, or made into tiny, bite-sized nibbles. (They were one of the nibbles I served at my launch party and they went down extremely well!) It is worth making the effort to get xanthum gum as this does make a difference, but the pastry will still work if you can't get hold of any.
preparation time 30 minutes, plus 30 minutes chilling time cooking 65 to 75 minutes makes 4 or 6
contains: egg
3 bell peppers (a mixture of red, orange, and yellow or all one color), seeded and cut into quarters3 tablespoons olive oil3 large vine-ripened tomatoes, each cut into 8 pieces1 onion, cut into 16 piecesdairy-free margarine, for greasingrice flour for dusting2 extra-large eggs plus 6 extra-large egg yolks, beaten4 tablespoons sugar-free soymilksea salt and freshly ground black pepperdough: ½ cup rice flour¾ cup plus 1½ tablespoons gram flour3 tablespoons buckwheat flour½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon xanthum gum½ cup chilled dairy-free margarine1 beaten extra-large egg1 To make the dough, sift the flours, salt and xanthum gum into a large mixing bowl. Cut the dairy-free margarine into small cubes and, using cold fingertips, rub it into the flours until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.
2 Make a well in the middle and add the egg, mixing lightly with a round-bladed knife so the dough begins to hold together. It needs to form a dough with a little extra moisture at the bottom of the bowl. If it is too dry, gradually add 1 to 2 tablespoons chilled water to make it quite sticky; if too sticky, add some rice flour.
3 Shape the dough into a ball; wrap in waxed paper and put in the refrigerator 30 minutes. This amount will line a 10-inch tart pan, 11/4 inches deep, or five 5-inch tartlet pans, 3/4 inch deep.
4 The dough can also be made in a food processor. Simply tip the sifted flours and salt into the bowl, add the margarine, and blend until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Add the egg and blend for 20–30 seconds until the mixture comes together to form a sticky dough, adding a little extra water if needed.
5 Note that this dough is very fragile and needs to be handled with great care. Roll it out quickly and smoothly, use a board to turn it into the pan, and use your finger-tips to mold it together if it cracks a little when you turn it into the pan.
6 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Arrange the bell peppers, cut-side down, and the tomatoes and onions on two baking trays and drizzle the oil over. Place both trays of vegetables in the hot oven and roast 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the tomatoes and onions, but leave the bell peppers to roast 10 minutes longer until the skins are black.
7 Put the bell peppers in a plastic bag and leave 2 to 3 minutes; remove from the bag and peel off the skins. Turn the oven up to 400°F. Grease four 5-inch tartlet pans, 3/4 inch deep, with removable bottoms with dairy-free margarine.
8 Gently roll out the dough on a surface liberally dusted with rice flour until about 1/8 inch thick. Using a biscuit cutter that is slightly larger in diameter than the pans, to allow enough dough for the sides, cut out four dough circles, discarding any extra pastry; be very gentle, as the dough will still be slightly sticky.
9 Lift the dough circles into each pan (you may need to use a metal spatula) and press down lightly to remove any pockets of air. Line each tartlet shell with a piece of nonstick baking parchment paper and cover with baking beans. Place the tartlet pans on a baking tray and bake in the hot oven 8 to 10 minutes until firm and lightly golden. Take the tartlet shells out of the oven and remove the parchment paper and beans.Turn the oven down to 350°F.
10 Divide the roasted onion between the tartlet shells, then top each with 4 tomato pieces and 2 bell pepper quarters. Mix the eggs, egg yolks, and soymilk together in a bowl and season lightly with salt and pepper. Pour the mixture over the vegetables.
11 Bake the filled tartlet shells in the hot oven 25 to 30 minutes until the filling is cooked through.Take them out of the oven, leave to cool in the pans until the filling has set. Carefully ease them out onto a plate and serve with vegetables or mixed salad leaves.
related ingredients: gram/chickpea flour,
rice flour,
xanthum gum
