Tomato, feta and red pepper tartlets

Not a cake I know, but worth posting about. This recipe is adapted from one of my favourite GF cook books, but the pastry is quite different from their version (and much better in my opinion!). I find GF savoury pastry quite a challenge, but I think I’ve finally cracked it with this recipe:

For the savoury pastry:

75g potato flour

75g rice flour

75g ground almonds

Salt

1 tbsp xanthan gum

1 egg

50g butter

Olive oil

Mix the dry ingredients together. Add the egg, and rub in the butter till a fine crumb. Gather together into a ball, adding as much olive oil as needed to hold it together. I find that the ‘wetter’ the better with this pastry (don’t expect the same pastry rules to apply to gluten free pastry) so I add plenty of oil, so that the pastry holds together easily and is actually smooth and rather greasy to the touch. It can be refridgerated or frozen if needed, but I don’t find cooling it helps with the handling. I roll the pastry out sandwiched between two sheets of grease-proof paper, so I don’t worry about dusting surfaces with flour – it makes a mess and dries out your pastry! Don’t roll the pastry too thin, and be careful transferring it to the tin as it will break easily. If it rips, roll it up and start again – have patience with it!

Blind bake the pastry for 10 minutes at 180C. Remove from oven, coat with egg wash and return to the oven for 2 minutes.

Filling:

Feta

Roasted red peppers

Tin tomatoes

Onion

Olive oil flavoured with garlic

Thyme, oregano, salt, pepper, sugar, balsamic vinegar

Gluten free pesto

Fry a finely diced onion in garlic flavoured olive oil until softened. Add a tin of tomatoes, and season with salt, pepper, thyme, oregano and about 1 tbsp of sugar. Cook until the liquid is reduced – add a few drops of balsamic vinegar (this tomato mixture can be prepared in advance and frozen if required).

Roasted red pepper (in a jar – cheating I know!) – finely slice and place in the bottom of the pastry case. Crumble some feta on top, then add a couple of tsp of the tomato mixture on top. Finish off with some more crumbled feta and return them to the oven for 10 minutes.

Once cooked, drizzle a little gluten free pesto on the top and serve warm or cold.