Pear Tart

Happy New Year to everyone! I hope you all had a good start to 2011.
Do you have some recipes that you cook every now and then? I have a few and I have already written some of those on this blog.  This is another one that I make very often.  It's a Swiss recipe and I learned this from my husband.  It's one of those easy dishes, where you can easily substitute the ingredients if you don't have everything listed.  If you buy the ready puff pastry as well or a ready tart base, then the dish becomes super practical.  You can also make this tart with apples, plums, apricots, different berries, etc.  Quark and yogurt can be replaced with cream or with each other, you can just use only yogurt or just quark.
This tart just taste delicious because it is a very light dessert. It shouldn't be too sweet but depending on the type of fruit you use, you may want to add another tablespoon of sugar to the filling if you'd like. 

Pear Tart

(Makes 8 portions)

1 round fresh puff pastry (33cm - app 13'')

2 tablespoons of grounded hazelnuts

Filling:

4 tablespoons of Yogurt

1 cup of milk

3 tablespoons of Quark

2+1 tablespoons of sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

2 tablespoons of flour

4 medium sized pears

1 egg

Start by putting your pastry in a tart tin, preferably over a baking sheet.  With the help of a fork make few holes on the pastry.  Spread the grounded nuts over the pastry and leave it aside. 

To prepare your filling,  mix the quark, yogurt, milk, 2 tablespoons of sugar, vanilla sugar, flour and 1 egg in a bowl by using a whisker.  

Pour the filling in the tart base you have prepared before. 

Peel the pears, take the seeds out and slice them into 1/2 cm pieces. Arrange the pear slices over the filling. They will be a little bit dipped into the filling but that's alright. You can also spread them randomly over the filling if you prefer.  

Sprinkle the left over tablespoon of sugar over the pear slices.  Bake the tart in preheated oven 180° C(356° F) for 40-45 minutes until the crust is golden brown. 

Aussie Pie with Puff Pastry

Here is another recipe I really had to write about.  I've learned this from my mother-in-law, who learned from their Australian family friends and I've been making this very tasty pie since then.  It's another simple dish that you will keep making if you try it once.  It is something like pasta or pizza.  If you have the pastry at home, it's a wonderful and a filling meal for everyone.  My children absolutely love this and it is also an easy recipe if you are having guests around.  This version of the Aussie pie is made with ready fresh puff pastry, which makes the preparation very easy and quick.  You need some ground beef and some vegetables that you think that might go well with the beef.  I used below vegetables this time, but it's also great with zucchini, peas, sweet corn, etc.  I would definitely recommend to put one chopped tomato in it always to make the filling a little bit juicy.  Alternatively you can use vegetable or meat stock or 1-2 tablespoons of cream.  Please write your comments if you try this recipe.  I am really interested in to hear what versions you have been making.

Aussie Pie with Puff Pastry

2 round fresh puff pastry (33cm - app. 13'')

1 egg beaten 

Filling:

500 g ground beef

1 onion - chopped

1 red pepper - chopped

1 aubergine - diced

1/2 leek - chopped

300 g mushrooms - chopped

1 tomato - chopped

1/2 teaspoon of ground cummin

1/2 teaspoon of mild or hot chili powder

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 180° C(356° F).  In a pan over medium heat start cooking your beef together with the onions.  When they are cooked a little bit, add in the aubergines, peppers, leeks and saute them together with the meat and onions.  The vegetables shouldn't be overcooked.  3-4 minutes before you take it off the heat, add in all the spices, mushrooms and tomatoes.  When the filling is ready, taste to see if it needs more salt or spice.  Set is aside to cool down a little bit. 

Take a pie tin or a tart tin and put the first puff pastry at the bottom over a baking paper.  Make some holes on it by using a fork.  If your filling has cooled enough put the filling over the pastry and cover it with the second pastry on top.  Seal the sides by folding and cut the excess bits of the pastry if necessary.  Brush the top layer with the beaten egg and bake the pie in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until the pastry has a golden brown color on top.  Serve it with some fresh green salad or any other salad of your choice. 

Vegetable Samosa with Puff Pastry

Celeriac is really something I don't know how else to cook, other than the usual Turkish dishes I learned from my mother and as soup.  I really wanted to do something a little different this time and I thought to try it as a samosa, which is an Indian dish, very similar to the typical Turkish borek but has a spicy curry touch.  It's one of my favorite starters when I go to an Indian restaurant.  I absolutely love them.  I didn't want to make these too hot for the usual reason.  I wanted the kids to enjoy this little snack.  I generally make a dish with celeriac adding in potatoes, peas, carrots, onions and of course olive oil.  These little samosas have all of those except the carrots.  I preferred to use the puff pastry to give it a lighter taste.  They turned out really good.  In fact, I am going to make this one of my repetitive recipes and try it with other vegetables as well.  

Vegetable Samosa with Puff Pastry

(Makes 16)

1 rectangular puff pastry (42x26 cm) (16"x10")

1 small celeriac - chopped into little cubes

2 medium potatoes - chopped into little cubes

1 small onion - chopped

1 cup of frozen or fresh peas

1 teaspoon of curry powder

1/2 teaspoon of mild chili powder

1/2 teaspoon of cumin ground

1/2 tablespoon of fresh dill leaves

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1 egg- beaten

salt and pepper to taste

First of all, you need to saute the vegetables in a non-stick pan.  Heat the pan with the olive oil and put the onions first.  Saute them until they are cooked and then add in the celeriac, potatoes and the peas.  Add in the spices, with some salt and pepper.  Make sure the vegetables are cooked but they shouldn't be over-cooked, otherwise they will get mushy.  When they are done take them off the heat, add in the dill and set it aside to cool.  Preheat your oven to 180° C(356° F) degrees.  Lay the puff pastry on a baking tray over a baking sheet.  I used the big puff pastry and sliced it into 16 little squares as in the photo, but if you can find the little square shaped puff pastries then don't bother to buy the big one for this recipe.  Once you are ready, put about a spoonful of the vegetables on the pastry and fold it into a triangle shape.  Spread some egg onto the edges with a brush, so that the ends of the pastry can stick together.  I used a fork to press the ends together and folded the corners to give it a more samosa looking shape.  When it is all ready brush them over with the rest of the egg and put them in the oven for about 20 minutes until they are done.  These are best when they are eaten warm.  If you want to make a meal out of them, I recommend to serve them with a nice green salad. 

Easy Flammkuchen

Flammkuchen (French call it tarte flambée) is actually something I have had first time in Switzerland, so it has been a Swiss dish for me from the start.  I never tried it in France or Germany.  It's basically like a very thin pizza, but it feels much lighter to eat than a pizza.  This version I made is an easy version because I used a ready puff pastry, not even a usual pizza base or a dough.  If you want to make the dough yourself, there are few different recipes out there, however I hardly recommend to make this version with puff pastry because it's delicious.  I got this idea of using puff pastry from my dear neighbour R. and I made it many times since.  The real taste of flammkuchen is not just its dough, but the crème fraiche (sour cream) that is spread to the base of it.  The original version has some bacon and onions on top, however you can replace the meat with other kinds or try to put leeks instead of the onions.  I have tried several versions of this and it tasted good each time.
I cooked this one last weekend, because my daughter wanted to eat pizza for lunch and she was very hungry.  I only had some ready puff pastry in the fridge, so I decided to make a quick flammkuchen with minced beef.

I made only one flammkuchen but if you want to feed 2 adults, then double the recipe below.

Easy Flammkuchen

1 round puff pastry (33cm - app. 13'')

100 g créme fraiche (about 1/2 cup)

150 - 200 g minced beef ( about 1 cup)

1/2 of a medium tomato - diced

1 small onion - chopped

1 tablespoon of chopped parsley

Salt and pepper

Start with preheating your oven to 180° C(356° F).  Put the pastry on your baking tray and make holes on the pastry by using a fork.  You need to do this in order to prevent the dough to rise too much.  Then spread the crème fraiche over the pastry and put your onions, meat and tomatoes.  I don't recommend to put too much tomato on it, because it will make the pastry too juicy and then the flammkuchen won't be crispy enough.  Last step is to sprinkle the parsley on top and season with some salt and freshly milled black pepper.  Put it in the oven for about 15-18 minutes until the pastry is looking nice golden brown color.  Serve it warm.  Enjoy!