With special thanks to James and Pizza at No 14 The Georgian House.
Serves 15
Ingredients:
■ 250g plain flour
■ pinch of salt
■ 125g cold Irish butter
■ 1 whole free range egg
For the filling
■ 250ml cream
■ 2 whole eggs
■ 150g Coolattin Cheddar
■ 150g fresh white crab meat
■ salt and freshly ground
black pepper
■ 10cm pastry moulds
Method:
First, make the pastry.
Sieve the flour and salt into a large bowl.
Cut the butter into cubes, toss in the flour and then rub in with your fingertips to form a breadcrumb like mix, add the egg to the mixture and mix until the pastry forms a dough.
Wrap in parchment paper and leave in the fridge for 1 hour.
Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll out the pastry (tip here is to place a chopping board in the freezer to keep the pastry cold when rolling.)
Cut into circles of pastry moulds, 10cm approx.
Brush the pastry moulds with a little melted butter.
Add the cut circles of pastry onto your moulds and press down — we normally place another mould on top to help keep its shape. Preheat the oven to 165°C/Gas
Mark 3.
Precook the pastry moulds for nine minutes in the preheated oven.
Remove from the oven leaving them to cool for a few minutes then remove the tarts from the moulds.
Next, make the filling. Mix the cream and egg together, add the cheese and crab.
Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper and pour into your pastry moulds.
Cook for 12 minutes at 165°C or until firm in the centre and serve.
