Perfect thing as a light dinner with a salad or as an app/starter: Cucumber and Smoke Salmon Tart! Light, flavorful and can be made ahead (I baked the tart on Sunday and made the remainder on Monday for dinner). Fresh dill from my own urban garden!
Ingredients
For the crust
1 stick cold butter, cut into pea size pieces
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling dough
1 egg yolk
Pinch salt
2 to 4 tablespoons cold water
For the filling
1 8 ounce package cream cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill, plus more for decorating
1 teaspoon paprika
salt and pepper to taste
20 thin slices European Cucumber, about 1/3 of the cucumber
4 ounces smoked salmon
Directions
For the dough: Put the butter, flour, egg yolk and salt in a food processor and pulse for 30 to 60 seconds or until the mixture has a grainy consistency. Add half of the water and pulse the food processor 2 to 3 times. The dough should start to come together, add the remaining water if needed. Check the consistency of the dough by clenching a small handful in your fist. If the dough stays together it is the proper consistency. If not, pulse the dough with a little more water. When the dough has reached the proper consistency, dump it out on a clean work surface. Using the heel of your hand, smear the dough straight forward and roll it back with your fingertips. Repeat this process 1 to 2 more times, dust with flour if needed. Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out to 1/8 to 1/4-inch in thickness. Lay the dough in the tart pan. Push the dough into the sides of the tart pan by rolling a small scrap of dough into a ball and pushing it into the dough. Roll over the top edge of the tart pan with the rolling pin to cut the extra dough from the pan and create a crisp edge. Cover the dough with aluminum foil and gently poke the foil into the side edges to fit the pan. This will help to keep the sides of the tart tall and straight as it cooks. Fill the tart shell with pie weights and place in the preheated oven. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, remove the foil and weights and bake for 4 to 5 minutes more. Remove the tart shell from the oven and cool. The dough should be golden and crisp. Let cool completely.
Make your cream cheese filling by combining the cream cheese, dill, paprika and salt and pepper. Slice your cucumber; I used a mandolin, but be very careful of your fingers. You can also just hand slice the cucumbers. Lay on paper towels and salt for 10 minutes and then blot off any excess moisture.
Once the tart is cooled, removed from the tart pan and fill with the cream cheese mixture. Top with cucumber slices in a overlapping circle and then artfully arrange the smoked salmon. Sprinkle with remaining dill. Chill for 20-30 minutes before serving.
