Cremonze Tart

Cremoneze Green Tart.

Time: 1604,
Place: Liege,
Author: Lancelot de Casteau (d. 1613). Transcription by Thomas Gloning, Translation by Daniel Myers
Source: Ouverture de Cuisine,
Redaction By: Master Drake (Craig Jones).

Original Recipe:

Pour faire tourtes cremoneze verdes.Prennez des espinasses & les faictes
boulir, & hachez bien menues, & vne
poignée de mente hachée, auec ij. onces
de bon parmesan raspé, quatre onces
de beurre fondu, trois onces de succre,
deux onces de carentines, deux oeufs
cruds, vn satin canelle, deux noix muscades,
& faites tourtes comme les autres,
& succre par dessus, & le seruez ainsi.

To make a cremoneze green tart.
Take spinach & put it to boil, & chop it fine, & a handful of chopped mint, with 2 ounces of grated parmesan, four ounces of melted butter, three ounces of sugar, two ounces of currants, two raw eggs, a quarter ounce of cinnamon, two nutmegs, & make the tart like the others, & sugar thereon, & serve it so.

Ingredients:

250 grams of English Spinach or Silverbeet (Swiss Chard).
1 Bunch of Mint.
20 grams Currants.
60 grams Butter.
2 Eggs.
50 grams of Grated Parmigano Reggiano or other hard Grana Cheese.
15g Pure Icing Sugar.
5g of Cinnamon.
2g of Grated Nutmeg or freshly ground mace (using freshly ground mace greatly improves the tart).
1g of Black Pepper.
1g of Flaked Sea Salt.
1 pastry sheet, enough for a standard 9 inch tart pan - I recommend pate brisee, or rough puff, or (if you have to) a decent commercial puff pastry for large feasts.

Makes 1 single tart, enough for 8 servings.

Method:

Finely chop spinach and mint, then quickly blanch for 30 seconds in boiling water, then dunked into ice-cold water. Drain very well.
Soften butter, grate cheese, beat eggs.
Combine all ingredients.
Blind bake pastry shells.
Add ingredients to tart shell (use a straight sided tart shell with removal bottom for best outcome).
Bake at 180degC (170degC in Fan-Forced) for 35-45 minutes. Filling should be light brown/toasted looking and firmly set.

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