Mini potato tarts with bacon and cheese – perfect as a starter, on the Easter table, for a graduation party or as an appetiser.
These little potato tarts with bacon and cheese are the kind you can’t help reaching for one more of. They have a crisp base, a filling packed with flavour and a topping of good mature cheese that melts down over it.
The filling is made with golden, crisply fried bacon, onion and potatoes, which together give a rich, satisfying flavour. You can use either raw or cooked potatoes, depending on what you have to hand – which makes them extra easy to make. With a little thyme and a creamy egg mixture, it all comes together into a classic and genuinely delicious combination.
It’s a very versatile dish that can be served in many ways. The tarts work perfectly as a small starter, but can also be halved and served as an appetiser. They are also ideal for a buffet – whether it’s an Easter lunch, a Christmas lunch or tapas with friends and family.
The tarts can be made with either ready-made shortcrust pastry or a homemade version, and they can easily be prepared well in advance. They are easy to warm through before serving, they freeze well and they actually taste very good cold too – in a packed lunch the next day, for example.
A simple recipe with plenty of flavour that always goes down well – whenever you serve them.
Mini potato tarts with bacon and cheese
Ingredients
- 1 shortcrust pastry
- Or this recipe – click here
- 150 g bacon, diced
- 1/2 onion, finely chopped
- 150 g potatoes, raw or cooked – cut into small dice
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked, or a little dried thyme
- 70 g mature havarti or another hard cheese, finely grated
- 3 eggs
- 75 ml cream or milk
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Oil
- Watercress, to serve
You will also need
- 6 tartlet tins, about 10 cm in diameter
Method
- Divide the pastry into 6 equal pieces. Grease the tins with a little oil and press the pastry into them. Trim away any excess pastry from the edges.If you are using ready-made pastry and it is round, divide it into 4 pieces, then gather the offcuts you trim away as you line the tins, roll them out again and use them for the last 2 tins.If you are using ready-made pastry and it is rectangular, it will stretch comfortably to 6 tins.
- Prick the bases with a fork and blind bake them in a preheated conventional oven (top and bottom heat) at 180°C for about 8-10 minutes.If you like, lay a small piece of baking parchment over each pastry case and fill with dried beans or similar before blind baking – it helps the pastry keep its shape.
- Meanwhile, fry the bacon in a pan until golden and lightly crisp.
- Add the onion, potatoes and thyme and fry for a couple of minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Whisk the eggs and cream together, too, and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Divide the filling between the pastry cases, scatter the cheese on top and pour over the egg mixture – it should come right up to the edge of the pastry.
- Return the tarts to the oven and bake for a further 30-35 minutes, until golden and cooked through.
- Serve with a little watercress or other herbs on top.
Nutrition
Premium
Hejsa. Mega gode tærter. Kan man buge sådan en portion til en almindelig tærte størrelse ??
Hej Anita
Tusind tak for de søde ord:) Hvis det skal være en almindelig tærtestørrelse ville jeg gå med 1 1/2 portion 🙂
Warm wishes, Dianna
Vil meget gerne servere dine tærter til en større fest, men er i tvivl om hvordan man bedst muligt kan forberede dem i god tide. Vil man kunne fryse tærterne ned i ugen op til, og så varme dem lige inden servering?
Hej Caroline
De kan sagtens fryses og blot lunes inden servering – jeg ville tø dem op og give dem ved et par hundrede grader, til de er gennemvarme 🙂
Warm wishes, Dianna