Samosa Tarts or Samosa Stuffed Mushrooms – Easy, Elegant and kind of healthy
The beautiful snowy weather, guaranteed a stay at home Saturday and a fierce craving for Samosas. On a quest to satisfy the craving, the Samosa Tart is born. Tinkering with the same, the samosa stuffed mushroom evolved.
My Samosa Tart Story
So, you get to decide which version you like. Crisp and flaky, the tart is happy in a phylo crust. However, the mushroom is deeply flavorful. Done in a bed of olive oil and black pepper. And the best part of this is that you can stuff them and keep ahead for a couple of days. They will actually absorb the oil and flavors.
Easier and Quicker than traditional samosas, they satisfy the samosas both quicker and in a somewhat healthier way. Both the phylo base and the mushrooms, offer a perfect foil for the star of the samosa – its filling.
The husband manned and watched the snow. The boy and I hunkered down for our Lego-building project. After all a promise is a promise. It was actually an afternoon of fun finished with samosas and ginger tea. The boy and I tend to work well together and he is actually becoming quite a great help in the kitchen. The Lego brick is named Ramdhanu (hey, from the Bengali word for rainbow).
I have since made these so many times. Sometimes, just the tarts. Sometimes just mushrooms and depending on your persuasion a little bit of both. The versatile filling for the samosa is perfect for anything.
As the quiet softness of the weekend gives way to a Monday. A Monday heralding in a busy week (although lately, I cannot help wondering if there is any other kind). I am grateful for a peaceful weekend with the son.
The pomegranate seeds add both color and a pop of tartness to the mix. And, yes these work well with all the usual samosa fixings.
This is a deconstructed samosa, that is almost as satisfying as the real deal and infinitely easier and a tad healthier as well.
Ingredients
- 4 medium sized Yukon Gold Potatoes
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1 roll of phyllo sheets (I use the Athens Brand and they come in two rolls)
- 1/3 cup olive or coconut oil plus 1 tablespoon oil
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 small red onion, diced
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon red cayenne pepper
- 1/2 cup diced carrots
- 1/2 cup green peas (can be frozen)
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 1 tablespoon pomegranate seeds
- 20 mushrooms
- 2 tablespons olive oil
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Grease a muffin pan.
- Boil the potatoes in their jackets until soft. Place in cold water. Peel and mash the potatoes coarsely. Mix in the salt.
- While the potatoes are cooking. Work with the phyllo sheets about 6 layers at a time. Place the first layer over a clean surface, brush with olive oil and place the second layer over the first. For this purpose, the placement does not have to be perfect and you can allow yourself a few tears here and there.
- Once you have lined up about 6 sheets, cut into a 4-inch by 4-inch piece. Align over the pan and then gently shape to form a shell.
- Continue until you have 12 of these.
- Bake for 7 minutes and remove from the oven.
- Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil and add in the mustard seeds and wait until the seeds crackle.
- Add in the ginger and the onion and saute well until translucent.
- Add in the turmeric, cayenne potatoes and the carrots and mix well. Cover and cook for 6 to 7 minutes.
- Add in the peas and mix well and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.
- Sprinkle with the lime juice, mix in the cilantro and the pomegranate seeds.
- Carefully fill the prepared shells with about 1 and half tablespoons of the filling, enough the fill the shell comfortably, but not over stuff it.
- Bake for another 3 to 4 minutes and serve hot.
- To make the mushrooms, remove the stems, chop and mix them into the potato filling.
- Drizzle a baking dish with the oil, black pepper and garam masala.
- Fill the mushrooms with the samosa filling.
- Place in the olive oil drizzled dish and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.