Egg tartlets
Ingredients
- Hard-boiled eggs 4, shelled and finely
- chopped
- Pastry
- Plain (all-purpose)
- flour 170 g (6 oz) Salt a dash
- Butter 60 g (2 oz), cut into cubes
- Vegetable
- shortening 45 g (11/2 oz), cut into
- cubes
- Cold water 1–2 Tbsp
Mayonnaise
- Egg yolks 2, at room temperature
- Salt 1/2 tsp
- Ground white
- pepper a dash
- Olive oil 250 ml (8 fl oz / 1 cup)
- Lemon juice or white wine
- vinegar 1 Tbsp
- Garlic 1 large clove, peeled and crushed
- Chopped basil 4 Tbsp
Garnish
- Hard-boiled egg 6 slices
- Basil 6 small sprigs
These decorative tartlets are great for parties as their components— pastry cases, mayonnaise and hard-boiled eggs—can be made well in advance and assembled before serving.
Serves 6
Method
- Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
- Prepare pastry. Sift flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Add 45 g (11/2 oz) butter and shortening, then rub fat into flour until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- Add 1 Tbsp cold water to flour mixture and knead dough until smooth. Add more cold water if dough is too dry. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Use remaining butter to grease 6 tartlet tins, each 7.5-cm (3-in) in diameter.
- Prepare mayonnaise. Whisk egg yolks, salt and pepper until well blended. Add oil, a few drops at a time, whisking constantly.
- Do not add oil too quickly or mixture will curdle. When it has thickened, oil may be added more rapidly.
- Beat in a few drops of lemon juice or vinegar from time to time to prevent mayonnaise from becoming too thick. When all the oil has been added, stir in remaining lemon juice orvinegar.
- Stir in garlic and basil.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out chilled dough to 0.5-cm (1/4-in) thickness. Using a 10-cm (4-in) round pastry cutter, cut out 6 circles and line tartlet tins, trimming off any excess.
- Fill pastry shells with crumpled greaseproof paper and bake blind for 15 minutes, removing paper 5 minutes before to allow pastry to brown. Remove from oven and leave to coolfor 30 minutes before turning pastry out of tins.
- Half-fill pastry shells with hard-boiled eggs, then spoon mayonnaise over. Garnish each tartlet with a slice of hard- boiled egg and a sprig of basil. Serve.
