Tender and delicate gluten-free savory tart dough

I had two hours to put together a treat for a Boston blogger get-together last week and didn't really know what I was going to make. The directive was for finger foods - finger foods? I'm not much of a finger food girl. I asked my friends - via facebook - what they thought I should do. They came up with about 15 different ideas - some tea sandwiches, many bacon ideas, a few amazing tips for pre-made puff pastry dough. In the end I decided to stick with gluten-free and low cost - being unemployed, I can't really afford to spend money on putting together expensive treats. I scoured the refrigerator for ingredients - I found local ricotta, eggs from Pete & Jen's Backyard Birds (our local micro-farm eggs), some olives and a little Parmigiano-Reggiano. 

I had just seen a recipe for a sweet almond crust, so I decided I'd improvise a sweet one. I knew roughly the ratio I wanted to use. The resulting crust was very tender, a touch crumbly, but quite delicious. The crumbliness is easily addressed by the addition of an egg yolk. Here's the recipe I used. It makes one large quiche crust or about 24 small tart shells.

Cake & Commerce's Savory Tart Dough

• 3/4 C Whole blanched almonds
• 1 C Light buckwheat flour
• 2 oz COLD butter (1/2 stick)
• 1.5 oz Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 1/4 t cayenne
• 1 egg yolk OR 1-2 tablespoons water

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a food processor, using the blade, grind the almonds and the Parmigiano-Reggiano together until both are reduced to powder. Add in buckwheat flour and continue to grind until well combined. Add in egg or water. Mix until well combined and dough forms a ball (if it doesn't, add water, a drop or two at  time. Don't worry - you won't overwork it!):

Because there's not gluten in this dough, you don't need to let it rest. Taking a pinch of dough, place it in a mini tin and with your fingers shape it to fit the mold, with a little lip at the top:

It doesn't need to be perfect, but you should definitely make this neater than I did!

If you can, blind bake the shells (place parchment paper on top and weigh down with baking weights or beans). If not, you'll want to pull out the shells after they've warmed but before they've browned to push down the dough with your fingers. Blind baking works better....

They'll look like this after about 10 minutes:

You'll want to pull them soon thereafter, as you are going to fill them and bake them again. While the pan is still hot, I remove the shells VERY GENTLY from the pan and place them in baking cups:

Because the pan I use to bake the mini tarts are a little tough to maneuver once the tart is baked, I like to bake them, filled, inside a paper baking cup - it prevents breakage when the tarts are finished.

In this version, I put together a ricotta mixture made with 2 yolks, 1/2 lb ricotta, my favorite spices, some grated parmigiano-reggiano, a little milk, caramelized onions, salt, pepper, a squeeze or two of lemon juice and a little goat cheese in the middle. I filled each of the shells and topped them with finely shaved olives and baked them until they were mostly set, about 10-12 minutes.

Eat while warm or serve at room temperature. They also heat up nicely. Enjoy!

Comments

[Mary]

These were deelish - so glad to see the recipe. Does the egg yolk in he dough hold everything together a little more tightly (than the water does)? I'm new to gluten-free, so I am curious about how everything holds together. I remember the dough being crumbly, but in a good way.

[Eat At Joe's]

This look delicious, I'm making them soon. I'm wondering about the "breakage" when you pull the still-warm shells from the pan. Is there a way to make these in paper cups from the start?

[Jennifer]

This is great!!!

[Pam]

Mmm, these were very tasty. Thanks for the recipe!

[Hayley]

You put together such wonderful tartlettes with ingredients all at hand, quite impressive. They look beautiful, thanks for sharing!

[Cake and Commerce]

There are two approaches:

1. Leave them in the pan and fill them in the pan. When the tart has cooled, warm the bottom to release the tarts (the fats will liquefy just enough to release)and gently remove them.

2. You can start out in a paper shell, but it will be much more difficult to mold them.

And a third approach: use something more like a tart ring or a springform pan. You don't need to worry about release at all that way!

[Cake and Commerce]

The ones you tasted were made with water and not egg. The yolk should help it stay together better, as will the addition of 1/4 teaspoon of the gum of your choosing (I try to stay away from gums, but they do work well for binding...).

Glad you liked them when you tried them!

[Cake and Commerce]

Glad you liked them. My goal with GF is to make it taste so good that no one would guess they were eating something 'free from' gluten.

[Cake and Commerce]

Thank you so much! As they say, necessity is the mother of invention!

[Jess]

Hmm, I don't know how I missed these on the table the other night. They look lovely! At least now I have the recipe so I can have a taste at home. Thanks!

[Sophie]

Your gluten-free recipes sound great! I'm still trying to perfect my own gf pie crusts, you've done a great job with yours :).

[Cake and Commerce]

They went fast - I didn't bring many. You can use almond flour in the recipe, too, if you don't have blanched almonds....let me know how they work out for you.

[Cake and Commerce]

Definitely let me know when you perfect yours. I've got to work on my sweet crusts still!

[Carolyn]

Yum looks great! Will have to give it a try.... Great site too, love finding new GF blogs. :)

[Lauren B]

These look lovely! I adore working with buckwheat and almond flour to save carbs. What a gorgeous and healthy meal. :)