First and foremost make the pastry. Rub the butter into the flour until you have breadcrumbs and then add drops of water until it comes together. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or so. Roll the pastry out and divide into four pieces. Line each tart tin with the pastry and prick the base with a fork. I thought I’d make a right mess of lining the tins but it was really quick and simple; no holes and no patching up required.
The fiddliest part was the unfortunate but necessary step of removing the skins from the chorizo. They may be natural skins and fine to eat but I’d had them before and ended up having to pull the skins off after cooking and out of my teeth. I wasn’t prepared to spend the evening flossing so skin removal was essential. Once the skins are removed, chop the chorizo and fry on a medium heat so the oil runs out of the chorizo and it gets nice and crispy. Remove the chorizo from the pan leaving some of the oil and put the onion in. Fry the onion until soft and going brown at the edges; the smell was divine.
This tart uses a thick béchamel sauce rather than eggs. My Granny has always sworn by adding butter to onions before adding the flour when making a béchamel and now was my chance to try it. She says you never get lumps doing it like this.
Not only was this method really successful and lump free but the chorizo made the sauce a beautiful, pale salmon orange. Chop the parsley and stir in with some salt and pepper. When the sauce is done, the tarts can be assembled. Put a few bits of torn chicken and chorizo into each case and top with the sauce. Turn the oven down to 180C and cook for 20-30 minutes until the tops are lightly golden.
There was a big sigh of relief when the tarts came out of the cases with ease. I served them with a little mashed potato and some fresh Spring carrots. I was amazed how much of the chicken you could taste; it was not overpowered by any other flavour. The chorizo was wonderfully salty and the parsley and onions added a finishing freshness. I was very pleased with these tarts because putting in that extra bit of effort made the whole meal a little more special. I had a little spare pastry to make cheese straws which is always a bonus!
My pastry was also somewhat of a triumph. No holes, not too much shrinkage and a lovely crunchy, crumbly texture. I always thought that if I bought mini tart tins I would use them once and then forget about them. Now I reckon I’ll knock up a batch of mini tarts (sweet or savoury) whenever I get occasion to. I know not many people get very excited about quiches and flans, full size or otherwise, but being miniature gives these tarts a little something extra.
Isn’t it satisfying when something works out just perfect? And those tartlets look perfect to me.
those tartlets look delicious and beautiful! awesome job! and i totally hear you on the precision thing, i’m terrible at that kind of stuff!
Gorgeous tarts!!They look so so good.I’ve nevet tried making tarts but you might have inspired me :)Love the flavors in the filling too!!
They look gorgeous! I love the colour as well
Oh! I’ve got to try this recipe soon! Looks so tasty &tempting! We love chorizo & we’ll certainly enjoy these tartlets! Have a nice day!! 🙂
They look great! This will make a great summer lunch together with a nice green salad. Yum!
This looks like an awesome meaty but light dinner – bookmarked for my dad and brother 😀
Thanks!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Precision is overrated. I’d far rather have tartlets!
great flavors for a tartlet. we’d gobble these up in our house.
I love savoury tarts more than the sweet ones. Its all worth what you did as I can see from the pics.
What a lovely savory tart! Wonderful recipe!
Wow these tartlets look amazing! I’m a savoury kind of girl so these tartlets will fit right in my book.
Love the fact that you made your own pastry. Well done!
What a cool idea!
These look lovely. I would not have thought of chicken and chorizo together — sort of like Mexican gumbo in a tart shell. I love all kinds of tarts and quiches. I make them full size because I am lazy.
Hi, just to let you know that I added this post to StumbleUpon for you. Someone did this for my corned beef post and its page views just shot up exponentially. I hope that works for you too.
If it does, and you want to, you could like one of my posts that you liked in StumbleUpon too – but you do have to register with them (it’s free) and then download their toolbar – probably too much hassle.
Thanks for following Carole’s Chatter
I’d be so happy to pull these out of my oven – can’t wait to try them, they sound delicious!
i want to try this!! thanks for sharing 🙂
You obviously didn’t eat much of that roast chicken! The tartlets look totally scrumptions.
What a beautiful and delicious tartlets! It is a triumph, and not just the pastry!
Well Done! I’m completely rubbish when it comes to making pastry so I feel your pain! The size was just about right and with the chorizo as a filling you can’t really go wrong!
I like baking pastry; my favourite fillings are vegetables and cheeses. I haven’t used chorizo lately and this combination of chicken and chorizo is very inspiring. Keep making pastry!
Hi, you will have seen that the new Food on Friday ingredient is chicken. I noticed that you did this post on chicken which I think would be great linked in. We already have a collection of over 40 recipes which is wonderful. At the moment the Food on Friday edition with the most links is Beef with 73 – I get the feeling though that Chicken could become the new record holder!
Have a great day and thank you for following Carole’s Chatter. It ‘s nice to have you along for my blogging journey.
Great that you linked in, thanks.
Thanks for linking in. We now have a great collection of chicken recipes – now over 70 and still coming in!
Have a good week.
These tartlets look absolutely wonderful! I love the combination of chicken and chorizo!
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Great tarts! Especially with that chorizo in it!