Mini Spinach Artichoke Tarts make a tasty finger-food appetizer. Made with mascarpone or cream cheese, artichoke hearts, spinach, Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, they're ideal party food for any season.
Cube butter, then add to flour in processor bowl and pulse until it resembles coarse meal.
Add vinegar to milk. Add all at once to flour mixture. Pulse until it just forms a ball.
Remove and divide into two balls. Place on waxed paper or plastic wrap, flatten gently into a disc, top with another layer of wrap, fold over and refrigerate if not using right away.
Roll out and cut to fit your tart tins. Press gently into tins, smoothing out any creases. Prick several times with the tines of a fork.
Spinach Artichoke Filling
Add coarsely chopped spinach leaves to a skillet over low heat. Stir occasionally as spinach wilts. Turn off heat and set aside until ready to add to tart mixture.
Turn off heat and set aside until ready to add to tart mixture.
In a 2-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium hear. Cook onion in butter until softened.
Add mascarpone or cream cheese and stir until melted and combined.
Add salt and pepper.
Remove from heat, stir in finely chopped artichoke hearts and wilted spinach.
Add grated cheese, reserving ¼ cup of the Parmesan, and stir until well blended.
Fill tart shells, then top with the reserved Parmesan cheese.
Bake at 400°F. for 18 - 20 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Remove from oven, let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then continue cooling on rack, or serve immediately.
Refrigerate or freeze in an airtight container with parchment paper between layers.
Notes
*If using frozen artichokes, use 6 or 7 artichoke hearts, thawed and well drained.If using frozen spinach, your filling will not have as much flavour. You could substitute approximately ⅓ of a 10 ounce package of frozen spinach (very well squeezed out) for the fresh spinach in this recipe. But use fresh if you have it! Wilting fresh spinach takes less time than measuring and squeezing out frozen spinach.