Courgette, spinach and cheese rustic tarts recipe

These tasty tarts make a great light lunch served with steamed veg or salad, but they're also great for picnics and parties.

Ingredients

• 500g frozen shortcrust pastry, thawed
• 85g (3 1/2oz) cubed pancetta (spicy Italian bacon, available in supermarkets)
• 1tbsp olive oil
• 25g (1oz) butter
• 225g (8oz) young spinach, washed and well drained.
• 3 slim courgettes
• 75g (3oz) Emmenthal cheese, grated
• 200ml (10fl.oz) crème fraiche
• 1 large egg
• Black pepper and salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6 Dry fry the pancetta in a large frying pan until cooked and slightly golden, then remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
2. Add oil and butter to the pan and gently; the sliced courgettes until they are just beginning to brown on both sides, then drain and allow to cool. Once the courgettes are removed from the pan, add the spinach and toss over a low heat to just wilt, then remove from pan, drain and cool.
3. Cut the pastry into 6 equal pieces and roll out each sixth to a rectangle about 17cm x 15.5cm (6in x 7.5in)
4. Divide the cooled spinach and pancetta between the pastry pieces, leaving a border all round each of about 1.5cm (3/4in). Top with overlapping sliced courgettes. Beat together the egg, crème fraiche and seasonings.
5. Brush the borders lightly with a little of the mixture, then fold them up and in to partially cover the courgettes. Add the grated cheese to the crème fraiche mixture and spoon over the filling of each tart. Place on baking sheet and bake for 15 -18 mins until the pastry is golden brown.