Tartlets with crab sticks and cheese are best prepared from two types of dough: shortcrust and fresh, but there are many such recipes, and you won’t surprise anyone. Ready-made waffle tartlets sold in each supermarket are not suitable for this, as they quickly become soaked and lose their attractive appearance. The only exception is the immediate serving immediately after cooking. The following non-traditional recipes for baking the basics of this elegant appetizer will relieve the hostess from worries about the quality of the prepared dish.
Basis for tartlets from cottage cheese dough
For tartlets with crab sticks and cheese, this dough is ideal: it does not soak for a long time and at the same time is not as thick as sand. Calories in this type of dough are also half as much, which for some people is an important factor in cooking. To knead the dough, you need only three ingredients: cottage cheese, flour and margarine in equal proportions.
The fat is ground with flour into crumbs, then the cottage cheese is added and the plastic dough is kneaded, which should lie for at least half an hour in the refrigerator. Next, roll out the dough into a thin layer and cut out the circles with which we line the cupcake molds or other available forms for tartlets. Inside, it is better to pour peas or beans on the dough so that the tartlet retains its ideal shape when baking. The oven mode is standard - 180 degrees. And the cooking time is individual: we are guided by the color of the baked dough - when it becomes gently ruddy, it means it's time to remove the tartlets, so as not to overdry. After baking, do not forget to pour the peas so that the baskets cool faster.
Soda Dough
From this test, tartlets with soft cheese and crab sticks are slightly crunchy and very tasteful. List of necessary products for cooking:
- 1 cup of mineral sparkling water, it should be cooled to an ice state;
- 2 eggs;
- 170 grams of butter;
- 380 grams of wheat flour;
- 2 tbsp. tablespoons of granulated sugar;
- 1 teaspoon of salt.
Flour is mixed with sugar, salt and rubbed with butter until butter crumbs. Then add the eggs, slightly beaten with a fork, and water. Knead the dough and wrapped in polyethylene, send it to the refrigerator for forty minutes. Thinly roll out the finished dough, line it with forms and place them in the oven for twenty minutes, the oven temperature is 200 degrees. The tartlets are rather light, but if it is confusing, you can add a pinch of turmeric to it at the time of preparation of the dough - it will turn it yellow cheerful and give a light unusual flavor that will complement the usual filling.
Classic topping recipe
It is this version of the filler for tartlets - from crab sticks with egg and cheese - that is considered traditional: it uses ordinary hard cheese. For cooking you will need:
- 100 grams of cheese grated.
- Three crab sticks, chopped in the same way.
- Two boiled eggs, also grated with large holes.
- 1-2 tbsp. tablespoons of mayonnaise.
All ground ingredients are mixed, flavored with mayonnaise. Tartlets are filled with the resulting paste - usually 4-6 tartlets are used for this dosage, depending on their size.
Almette cheese
Tartlets with crab sticks can be prepared using cheese from a well-known brand, but it is not available to everyone, so you can make an analog at home, no worse. To do this, wipe one hundred grams of homemade fat cottage cheese through a sieve. This is necessary so that the dairy product becomes a uniform paste without lumps characteristic of cottage cheese. Then add 80 grams of yogurt to the curd without any additives and a pinch of salt. Chop the garlic and a little fresh dill as finely as possible and add to the cheese, mix.
Already in this form, Almette at home cheese can be eaten or for the preparation of toppings, but it is worth adding an additional product to it to give a special, piquant taste. To do this, they often use very finely chopped pickles, pickled mushrooms, olives and even ham. Take a tablespoon of the mixture and add to the cheese, mix thoroughly and place the mass in a gauze bag, tying it tightly. Put on a small plate, press another one on top, smaller, and put a load of 2 kg for 3-4 hours, so that the cheese becomes denser. Next, we use it in the filling for tartlets.
Cream Cheese Filling
Cream cheese is cream cheese. His close relatives are Almette, Philadelphia. They are distinguished from other types of dairy products by their softer structure, so tartlets with cream cheese and crab sticks will be more tender and pleasant to taste than their counterparts with hard varieties.
For cooking, take 200 grams of cheese and crab sticks, the latter should be grated. We also add a large bunch of fresh dill, very finely chopped with a sharp knife. We mix all three ingredients, if necessary, you can add a couple of tablespoons of mayonnaise for higher viscosity. Snack lovers can add some garlic or cayenne pepper to the mass.
Should I add shrimp to crab sticks?
Tartlets with crab sticks and cheese can be made more refined if the standard filling is slightly modified: cut the cheese (150 grams) into cubes, crab sticks (100 grams) as well, but add 150 grams of peeled shrimp. Mix the mass with a couple of tablespoons of mayonnaise and fill the baskets from unleavened dough, and grate boiled eggs (2 pcs.) And sprinkle on top. The taste of the dish will be more intense, but unobtrusive.
A budget option
If expensive cheeses can not afford, then you can cook a simple economical option: tartlets with cream cheese. Cut the crab sticks and cucumbers (fresh) into small cubes, rub the cheese on a coarse grater and add a little garlic for flavor. We mix the mass and add two tablespoons of mayonnaise.
We fill the tartlets and sprinkle with chopped green onions on top. With this option, the fillings can be experimented by adding pickled cucumbers instead of fresh cucumbers or completely replacing them with canned corn. Each option is good in its own way, so it makes sense to make a variety of fillings with one serving.
With tangerine
Tartlets with crab sticks and cheese can become a gourmet's dream if you prepare for them a more savory fusion-style filling, when incompatible, at first glance, products are mixed in one dish. Essential ingredients for 10 tartlets:
- 250 grams of crab sticks;
- 1 large sweet tangerine;
- 3 boiled eggs;
- 100 grams of cream cheese without additives;
- a small bunch of dill;
- a pinch of black pepper and mayonnaise as needed.
We rub eggs, crab sticks and cheese on the smallest grater, cut the tangerine into small cubes, and finely chop the dill. We mix all the products in one dish, adding pepper and sauce to taste, mix until smooth, with which we fill the finished sand tartlets, and serve immediately. It is important that the fruit is sweet, otherwise the taste of the filling will be completely unacceptable.
Another magical filling recipe
This option is good for those who with confidence decided to defeat everyone with the unusual preparation of tartlets with crab sticks, cheese and garlic. For the base, you need to take 400 grams of ready-made puff pastry and, rolling it very thinly, cut into squares no larger than 6 cm. We pinch the corners on two opposite sides, forming a “boat”, and pour peas inside so that the middle of such an unusual tartlet remains during baking hollow. Generously sprinkle the dough with cold water and bake the boats in the oven until soft golden at a temperature of 220 degrees.
While the base for the dish is cooling, prepare the filling: grind 80 grams of walnuts into a small crumb with a blender; five boiled eggs, along with 180 grams of crab sticks and 100 grams of cream cheese, grate with large holes; peel one small fresh pineapple and cut into very small cubes.
In one bowl, mix all grated ingredients, pineapple and nuts. Add 150 grams of mayonnaise sauce and salt to taste, mix and fill the cooled tartlets freed from peas. The top of the baskets can be decorated with sprigs of parsley or large pieces of walnuts.
This selection of recipes once again proves that at the time of cooking it is important to experiment and not be afraid to use unusual combinations of products that sometimes give a stunning result. It is not in vain that tartlets are considered a festive dish, since with their elegant appearance they significantly enliven the table, making it not so fresh and banal.