2-Kinds of French Savory Tarts: Spinach with Sweet Basil & Fennel with Sweet Onions

I love making (and eating) tarts, and my favorite is pineapple tarts which are always in an abundance during Chinese New Year. Ahh, fond memories.

But today, these tarts I made are of the savory kind. They are French because of its buttery light base with its filling made from classic French ingredients, basil and fennel.

I love both savory and sweet tarts because they are just so delightful, easy to make and easy to eat.

So here are two different French savory tarts that I made last week; Fennel with Sweet Onion and Spinach with Sweet Basil.

The base for both tarts are the same. Incidentally, the same base can be used for sweet tarts as well. You can adjust the buttery richness of the base by adjusting the butter content but for me, this recipe is perfect. Not too heavy and not too stingy with the butter. The base is somewhat flaky and airy - very light and yet satiety comes unexpectedly. It's perfect for a light lunch or dinner.

So let's start with the base. You will need:
1.5 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup of really cold butter, chopped into cubes
3-5 tablespoons of cold water

Method:
1. In a large bowl, add your flour and salt in. Mix well.
2. Add your really cold chopped up butter and with the tip of your fingers, just mix and crumble the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. The little bits and blobs of butter is what gives the base a light and flaky texture.
3. With 1 tablespoon at a time, add your water into the butter-flour mixture and mix the ingredients until they can hold into a ball. Knead very gently so that the dough becomes smoother (do not over knead), and with a knife, divide the dough into two equal portions before wrapping them with plastic wrap. Store the dough in the fridge until ready to use.


Spinach with Sweet Basil Tart
3 cups of spinach, chopped and boiled for 1 minute (you can go ahead and use frozen spinach as well - use 1.5 cups worth, defrosted)
1 cup of basil leaves, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 onion, chopped
3 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon butter
a dash of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg white

Method:
1. Heat oven at 350 F or 175 C.
2. Take a portion of the dough out of the fridge. Lightly flour your kitchen counter (make sure it's clean) and roll your dough with a rolling pin until it is about 0.5cm thick. Don't worry about the uneven edges, it makes the tart looks rustic :)3. Heat pan under medium heat until hot. Add butter and oil. Once butter has melted, add your garlic and onion and saute until onion turns translucent. Don't let it burn. Add spinach in and saute for another 1 minute to heat through and then add your Parmesan cheese.4. Now you can add your chopped basil and saute them until they wilt (1 minute). Add salt and pepper to taste.5. Take the spinach mixture off heat and add egg white in while stirring the mixture together vigorously to combine. The vigorous stirring prevents the eggs from cooking into a lump :)6. Spread the spinach mixture onto the dough evenly. I cropped my base with a cookie cutter into round little shapes but you absolutely do not have to do that. I just did it because the tarts look cuter that way. Once you're done spreading your spinach mixture, pop your tart into the oven and bake for 30minutes.
7. Serve the tart warm :)


Fennel with Sweet Onion Tart
1/2 bulb of fresh fennel, sliced thinly (will yield you about 3 cups worth)
1 medium white onion (like Vidalias, if you have any. If not, just normal onions will do - red or green), sliced thinly
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste
1 egg white, gently beatened
Method:
The first two steps are the same as the Spinach with Sweet Basil Tart.
3. Heat pan on the stove at medium heat. Once the pan is hot, add olive oil, onion, garlic and fennel. Saute until onion and fennel are cooked down. Approximately 5 minutes.
4. Add sugar and continue saute-ing for about 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper and cook for another 2 minutes.

5. Once that is down, take pan off heat. Your kitchen should smell heavenly by now. Pour egg white into the mixture and stir vigorously so that the egg do not cook into clumps. This allow the fennel and onion mixture to spread evenly on the base.
6. Pour the fennel and onion mixture onto the dough base and spread it with the back of a spoon. Spread the mixture evenly across the base and pop it into the oven for 30 minutes.
7. Once it's done, cut and serve the tart pieces while it's still warm :)