Rustic Sausage Meat and Mushroom Tartlets

INGREDIENTS

1 quantity shortcrust pastry

Filling
4 tablespoons olive oil
200 grams button mushrooms, stalks removed and finely sliced
1 onion, finely diced
600 grams shoulder or belly pork, minced, not trimmed of its fat*
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary
finely grated zest 1 lemon
2 tablespoons white flour
250 grams crème fraîche, plus extra 50 grams for garnish
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
flat-leaf parsley to garnish

mini muffin or tart tins

METHOD

Roll the pastry out onto a lightly floured surface, cut to size and line the tart tins. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes prior to baking.

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Heat a heavy-based sauté pan over a medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sauté the sliced mushrooms until soft. Using a slotted spoon remove to a bowl and set to one side.

Add the remaining oil to the pan and sauté the onions gently until soft. Add the pork. The meat will release quite a lot of liquid initially. Continue cooking until almost all the liquid has cooked away and the meat is beginning to brown at the edges. Add the garlic, rosemary and lemon zest and cook for 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms back to the pan, sprinkle over the flour and stir well to combine all the ingredients. Add the crème fraîche and stir it through to make a smooth, creamy sauce. Season and cool.

To assemble: Spoon the mixture into the pastry cases. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the pastry is crisp and the tops are golden.

Serve hot or warm topped with a small dab of crème fraiche and a parsley leaf. Makes 40 x 4.5 cm bite-sized tartlets

* The tarts can be made using your own coarse, home- ground mince from boneless, skinned pork belly or pork pieces which you can process yourself in the food processor, or ask your butcher to coarsely mince the pork for you. A third option is to buy already minced pork from the supermarket. This mince will give the tarts a much finer texture.