Ingredients
| FOR THE PASTRY | |
| I use Tamasin Day-Lewis’ pastry recipe, from her book The Art of the Tart. | |
| 120g plain, white organic flour | |
| 60g unsalted butter, cold | |
| FOR THE MUSSELS | |
| 500g mussels | |
| 100ml white wine | |
| FOR THE SAFFRON & MUSSEL CUSTARD | |
| 100ml cream | |
| 100ml mussel cooking liquid | |
| 1 egg | |
| a good pinch saffron threads | |
| FOR THE FENNEL & VANILLA JAM | |
| 200g fennel bulb, diced | |
| 100g onion, thinly sliced | |
| 1 tablespoon cooking oil | |
| 2 tablespoons caster sugar | |
| 100ml white wine vinegar | |
| 1 vanilla pod, scraped | |
| FOR THE FENNEL OIL | |
| 100g fennel fronds | |
| 150ml grapeseed oil | |
| FOR THE FENNEL SALAD | |
| ½ fennel bulb | |
| fennel oil | |
| 1 lemon | |
| TO FINISH | |
| 12 pickled mussels, drained (store-bought is fine: I used Talley’s brand) | |
| fennel fronds |
You will need 8 x 10cm fluted tart tins.
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Instructions
| 1. | PASTRY |
| 2. | Sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a food processor, then cut the cold butter into small pieces on top of it. |
| 3. | Process it for 20-30 seconds. With the machine running, add ice-cold water through the top, 1 tablespoon at a time – about 2-3 tablespoons should do it. |
| 4. | If the pastry is still a bit crumbly, add 1 tablespoon more but keep in mind that the more water you add, the more your pastry will shrink when you bake it. |
| 5. | Stop the food processor the moment the pastry comes together in a cohesive ball, remove it, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. |
| 6. | Heat the oven to 180ËšC. |
| 7. | Once the pastry has rested, roll it out and cut into 4 discs, wider than your tart tins. |
| 8. | Grease 4 tart tins and press the pastry into the tins, using a small knife to trim off any excess pastry. |
| 9. | Place the tart cases in the fridge for 30 minutes. |
| 10. | Put an empty tart tin into each pastry-lined tart tin, pressing down firmly. |
| 11. | Turn the cases upside down and place on a flat baking sheet. |
| 12. | Bake for 20 minutes, then turn the cases over the right way up and bake for another 10 minutes, until they are golden brown. |
| 13. | Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Remove the inside tins. |
| 14. | MUSSELS |
| 15. | Heat a deep pot over a high heat and add the mussels and wine. |
| 16. | Cover the pot with a lid and cook until all the mussels have opened, about 5-7 minutes. |
| 17. | Pour off and reserve the cooking liquid and discard any mussels that didn’t open. |
| 18. | Strain the reserved liquid through a fine sieve or muslin cloth. |
| 19. | Pick all the mussels out of their shells, removing their beards. |
| 20. | Roughly chop the meat and divide them between the empty tart cases. |
| 21. | SAFFRON & MUSSEL CUSTARD |
| 22. | Mix all the ingredients together and whisk until smooth. Season with a pinch of salt. |
| 23. | Pour the custard into the tart cases and bake at 180ËšC for 30 minutes, until the custard is just set. |
| 24. | FENNEL & VANILLA JAM |
| 25. | Place the fennel, onion and oil in a saucepan and cook over a low heat until soft, but without colour, about 20 minutes. |
| 26. | Add the sugar, vinegar, vanilla pod and seeds and cook over a low heat until the mixture is sticky, about 40 minutes. |
| 27. | Remove the vanilla pod before serving. |
| 28. | FENNEL OIL |
| 29. | Blitz the fennel and oil together in a blender on high speed. Strain through a fine sieve. |
| 30. | FENNEL SALAD |
| 31. | Slice the fennel as thinly as possible. |
| 32. | Place in a bowl with the fennel oil. |
| 33. | Peel and segment the lemon, cutting the segments from between the membranes. |
| 34. | Add to the fennel and squeeze any juice from the lemon flesh over everything and toss together. |
| 35. | Season with a little salt if needed. |
| 36. | TO FINISH |
| 37. | Remove the custard tarts from the tart tins. |
| 38. | Place a tablespoon of fennel jam on top of each tart and top with three pickled mussels. |
| 39. | Divide the fennel salad between the tarts, piling it on top of the mussels. |
| 40. | Finish with some sprigs of fennel fronds. |
Food and recipe styling Martin Bosley / Photography Amber-Jayne Bain