Four Seasons. Cooking throughout the year in South Africa, by Marita Pieterse

Four Seasons. Cooking throughout the year in South Africa, by Marita Pieterse. Struik Publishers

Four Seasons. Cooking throughout the year in South Africa by Marita Pieterse is a cookbook is designed to provide novel ideas for family meals.

Recipe: Roasted Pepper, Olive and Feta Tartlets

Place the flour and salt in a food processor and pulse to blend. Add the butter and Parmesan cheese, and process until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. With the motor running, start adding the egg mixture and process just until the dough comes together (you may not need all of the liquid).

Form the dough into a log, about 7 cm in diameter, place in a plastic bag and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or freeze for 15 minutes. Place the pastry log on a lightly floured work surface and cut into six rounds. Roll out each round until about 4 mm thick and large enough to fit the tin. Line the tins with pastry and cut off the excess. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or freeze for 15 minutes.

Prick the pastry cases lightly with a fork and line with foil or non-stick baking paper. Fill with dried beans and bake at 190 °C for 12 minutes. Remove the beans and paper and bake for about 6 minutes more until the crust is baked through and beginning to brown.

Filling: Cut a quarter red and a quarter yellow pepper into thin strips and set aside, then roughly chop the rest of the peppers. Halve a few of the olives and set aside. Roughly chop the rest. Divide the feta between the pastry cases, followed by the chopped peppers, chopped olives and the shredded basil.

Whisk the cream and eggs together, season the mixture with salt and pepper, and stir in the chopped thyme and rosemary Pour into the tartlet cases, arrange the reserved peppers and olives on top, and sprinkle over about half of the Parmesan. Bake at 180 °C for about 20 minutes until golden brown and puffed, and all but the very centre is set. Remove from the oven and sprinkle over the remaining Parmesan. Garnish with the extra basil leaves.

Cook's note: Never overwork pastry or add too much water to it; this will make it tough. The secret to a creamy, moist tartlet is to take it out of the oven before the very centre is set. After being removed from the oven the tartlets continue cooking for a few minutes, which means that they will be dry if you leave them in the oven until set all the way through.

For the pastry:
200 g (365 ml) cake flour
large pinch of salt
120 g butter (125 ml), cut into 1.5 cm cubes and chilled
30 ml freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten with 30 ml water

For the filling:
3 large peppers, red and yellow, roasted and peeled (see page 9)
16 black olives, stoned
100 g feta cheese, crumbled
10-12 fresh basil leaves, shredded, plus a few extra for garnishing
160 ml cream
2 eggs
salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 ml chopped fresh thyme
5 ml chopped fresh rosemary
35 g (45 ml) freshly grated
Parmesan cheese

You will also need:
6x10 cm metal tart tins, preferably loose-bottomed ones
Makes 6 x 10 cm tartlets

Pastry keeps for a few days in the fridge and can also be frozen. The baked cases will keep for a couple of days in an airtight container. The baked tartlets are best eaten on the day they are made, but they can be reheated at 180 °C for about 10 minutes.

This is an excerpt from Four Seasons, Cooking throughout the year in South Africa, by Marita Pieterse.

Title: Four Seasons
Subtitle: Cooking throughout the year in South Africa
Author: Marita Pieterse
Publisher: Struik Publishers
Cape Town, South Africa 2006
ISBN 9781770072282
Softcover, 21 x 28 cm, 128 pages, numerous colour photos