2022 Tour de France - Stage 7: Tomblaine to La Super Planche des Belles Filles.
No, that very long, end-stage town name is not a typo. There is an amazing and heart-wrenching story behind it as well. Today, the riders are in the Vosges (vōj) region of France, a tiny strip (in comparison to the rest of the country) of mountainous land. To her credit, when we ate this last night, my wife noted it had a Germanic quality to it and asked what region it was from. She was correct, because just 30 miles due east, from the origin of today’s main ingredient, Andouille du Val-d’Ajol, is the French-German border. Today’s dish is inspired by a photo I came across in French Regional Food. Unfortunately for me, though, there was no associated recipe. I think I did alright with these andouille-potato tarts, because they were absolutely scrumptious. As you can see in the last photo, these tarts will pop out of the ramekins, or you can eat straight out of the baking vessel as well.
Andouille and Potato Tarts
2 or 3 andouille sausage, ¼-inch dice
4 butter potatoes, peeled and ¼-inch dice
Onion, minced
1 box of store-bought pie crust dough
Thyme
1 egg yolk
Sauté the sausage and vegetables, in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, with 2 tbsp olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. This should take about 15-20 minutes for the flavors to meld and the potato to become tender. Give a final seasoning with more salt, pepper, and some thyme.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and set the dough out to come to room temperature. Prepare 4 ramekins with non-stick cooking spray.
Once the dough is ready, unfurl and cut into 4 rounds, a bit larger than the ramekins, and then invert the ramekin bowl and cut out 4 more rounds as large as the ramekin opening (reserve these for the top crust). Place the larger dough rounds into the bowls, gently pressing to adhere, but ensuring any trapped air bubbles get out.
Fill the dough with the cooked sausage and vegetables. Take the reserved smaller dough rounds, and lightly stretch them out in your hands, rotating the dough in a circular fashion. Place the rounds atop each ramekin. Using a knife, remove any excess dough hanging over the ramekin opening. Use a fork to seal the dough along the border. Cut some steam vents into the top dough.
Whisk the yolk with a tsp of water and brush the top of each prepared ramekin.
Place the prepared tarts on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes prior to serving. Serve either in the ramekin or gently wiggle the ramekin at about a 60-degree angle to allow the tart to unmold.
______________________________ Copyright 2022, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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