Eating For I or II: Stir-fried Chicken/Zucchini, Tomato Tarts 🌞

Zucchini, Tomato, and Ricotta Tarts



SERVES 2

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: A
great vegetable tart boasts a tender crust,
a rich layer of cheese, and plenty of
fresh vegetables. We started with our
recipe for All-Butter Tart Shells, using
the food processor to cut the butter into
the flour quickly, then pressing the dough
into two individual-size tart pans.

Parbaking the crusts ensured they
wouldn’t slump, shrink, or get soggy.
Next, a layer of chewy mozzarella and
creamy ricotta made a rich base layer
For the vegetables, fresh zucchini and tomatoes nicely
balanced the cheese and rich, buttery
crust and were conveniently quickcooking.

Salting and draining the
vegetables before layering them in the
tart shells kept the tarts from getting
waterlogged. For a final boost of flavor,
we drizzled garlic-spiked olive oil over
the tarts before baking. Yellow squash
can be substituted for the zucchini. See
the sidebar that follows the recipe.


9 cherry tomatoes
Salt and pepper
½ small zucchini (3 ounces), halved lengthwise and sliced ⅛ inch thick
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil for our vegetables.
1 small garlic clove, minced
2 ounces (¼ cup) whole-milk or partskim ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons shredded whole-milk
mozzarella cheese
1 recipe All-Butter Tart Shells, fully
baked and cooled
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil


1. Slice 7 tomatoes into ⅛-inch-thick
rounds (you should get about 5 slices
from each tomato); quarter remaining 2
tomatoes. Toss tomatoes with ¼
teaspoon salt and spread out onto paper
towel–lined plate. Toss zucchini with ¼
teaspoon salt and spread out onto paper
towel–lined plate. Let vegetables drain
for 30 minutes; gently blot vegetables
dry before using.

2. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to
middle position and heat oven to 425
degrees. Combine 1 tablespoon oil and
garlic in small bowl. In separate bowl,
combine remaining 1 tablespoon oil,
ricotta, and mozzarella and season with
salt and pepper to taste.

3. Spread ricotta mixture evenly over
bottom of cooled prebaked tart shells.
Shingle alternating slices of tomato and
zucchini around outside edge of tarts.
Place quartered tomatoes in center of
tarts. Drizzle garlic-oil mixture over
vegetables.

4. Bake tarts on rimmed baking sheet
until cheese is bubbling and vegetables
are slightly wilted, 20 to 25 minutes. Let
tarts cool on baking sheet for 20 minutes.

5. To serve, remove outer metal ring of
each tart pan, slide thin metal spatula
between tart and tart pan bottom, and
carefully slide tart onto plate. Sprinkle
with basil and serve warm or at room
temperature.


********************

Making Puff Pastry Tart Shells

Creating a bed for the filling within the tart shell
ensures that none of the filling will leak during baking.

1. Lay pastry squares on parchment
paper–lined baking sheet and poke them
all over with fork. Bake pastry until
puffed and golden, 12 to 15 minutes.

2. Using tip of paring knife, cut ½-inch
border into top of each pastry shell and
press center down with your fingertips
to create bed for filling.


From "Complete Cooking for Two Cookbook"
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18797099-the-complete-cooking-for-two-cookbook

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Stir-fried Chicken with Ginger and Cashews



Serves 1

1 tablespoon oil
2—3 spring onions (scallions), cut into pieces
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 cm (1 1/4 inch) piece ginger, finely shredded
1 small skinless chicken breast, cut into strips
1 small red capsicum (pepper), cut into strips
50 g (1 3/4 oz) snow peas (mangetout)
40 g (1 1/2 oz 1/4 Cup) cashews
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

Heat oil in a wok until it is smoking —
this will only take a few seconds. Add
spring onion, garlic and ginger and stir
for a few seconds. Next, add chicken
and stir it around until it has all turned
white.

Add the red capsicum and keep Stirring, then
throw in the snow peas and cashews and stir-fry
for another minute or so.

Once the red capsicum has started to soften a little,
add the soy sauce and sesame oil, toss everything
together and then tip the stir-fry out into a serving dish.

Serve with rice or noodles and more soy sauce if you like.

From "Cooking for One (Chunky)"
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12835825-cooking-for-one

Eat Well, take the time for yourself.