I have been asked to submit a couple of sweet/savoury tapas for an upcoming event where Clonakilty Chocolate will be launching their new bean-to-bar chocolate range (5th March…get your tickets here!). Following on from the success of my Savoury Cooking with Chocolate Supper Club in February I was feeling very much up to the challenge!

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be adding a few more sweet/savoury chocolate recipes to the blog just to finish off the Chocolate Season on Flavour.ie in style!

This recipe uses the fabulous savoury pastry recipe from the Lettercollum Cookbook which is a super simple pastry recipe that produces lovely crumbly pastry for your tartlet cases. The only difference here is that during the pastry making process add about 1 tblsp on fresh, finely chopped rosemary. Adding it in at this stage means that while the pastry is in the fridge resting the rosemary flavour gently permeates through the psatry prior to baking. The silky smooth ganache filling is a wonderful touch of luxury finished off with a sweet candied walnut – it’s a lovely combination and I hope you enjoy it! This patry mix makes either one large tart (28cm) or apx 12 muffin sized tartlets which I think is the better way to serve these up!

Ingredients:
For the Pastry:
300g unbleached flour
150g chilled butter, diced
1/2 tsp salt
100-150ml ice-cold water
1 tblsp fresh chopped rosemary
For the Ganache Filling:
75g salted dark chocolate (I suggest Clonakilty Chocolate Pink Himalayan Sea Salt Dark Chocolate) this will be enough for the 12 individual tartlet or 100g for one large tart.
Match the same quantity of double cream (75ml / 100ml).
For the Candied Walnuts:
100g walnut halves
25g sugar
1/2 teaspoon unsalted butter
Method:
When making this pastry, Lettercollum advises that everything should be cold! Cold hands, cold butter, cold surfaces etc.
Put the flour, salt, rosemary and butter into a food processor and pulse until the butter is evenly distributed throughout, but not to over do it.
Then add the water a bit at a time and pulse inbetween until it comes together. Doesn’t matter if there’s a few bits hanging around in the food processor once it starts coming together, as you can push that together afterwards. Again, it’s advised not to overdo this part.
Take out the pastry, push it all together in a ball using the ball of your hand and then flatten into a disk, cover in parchment paper and place in the fridge to chill for a couple of hours.
Whilst the pastry is chilling, make the candied walnuts. Heat up a pan and add in the walnuts, butter and sugar. Keep tossing the nuts in the melte butter and sugar until well coated and hot. Spoon out onto baking parchment and set aside to cool and set.
When ready, onto a cold worksurface lightly dusted with flour, roll out the pastry until about the thickness of a E2 coin. Cut out disks to fit your muffin tin and push gently down and prick the bottom with fork to stop the pastry from rising during the bake. Place in a fan oven 180 degs celsius for a minimum of 15 minutes or until the pastry is cooked and browned.
When they have cooked, turn them out onto a wire rack to cool.
Make the ganache but gently warming through the cream, then take off the heat and add in the chocolate and stir through until the mixture becomes dark and silky.
Poor the ganache into the pastry cases and top with a candied walnut. Leave to cool. The ganache will set a little, but not hard so that when you bite into it it is soft and yielding.
Brew yourself a lovelt cup of tea or coffee and settle down with one of these….and Enjoy!