Phyllo Tart Shells Recipes

Steps:

• In paper towel lined sieve, drain the yogurt for 2 hours.
• Heat oven to 350°F and coat 8 x 11-inch tart pan with removable bottom with cooking spray. Press 1 sheet phyllo dough into pan and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of wheat germ; repeat four more times. Each time sprinkle with wheat germ, ruffle the remaining phyllo dough and place around edges of pan coat with cooking spray and sprinkle with remaining wheat germ.
• Bake 10 minutes or until golden brown; cool completely.
• While cooling, in bowl combine yogurt, sour cream, jam, sugar, and zest. Spoon the mixture into the cooled tart shell and top with grapes and blueberries. Dust with powdered sugar.
• OTHER COMBINATIONS FOR THE FILLING: seedless raspberry jam with orange zest and strawberries and kiwifruits, or ginger preserves with orange zest and pineapple and blueberries, or strawberry jam, lime zest with peaches and plums, or orange marmalade with ground cinnamon and cantaloupe and honeydew, or pineapple preserves with five spice powder and raspberries and blackberries, or peach preserves with pumpkin pie spice and mango and strawberries----you can use any of these combo just mix and match--whatever you think is good.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F and butter four 1/2-cup muffin cups.
• Melt 2 tablespoons butter and cool. In a shallow baking pan toast pistachios in middle of oven, shaking pan occasionally, until golden, about 10 minutes. Cool nuts and finely chop.
• On a work surface stack phyllo sheets and cut out four 6-inch squares (for a total of 12 single-sheet squares), discarding scraps. Stack phyllo squares between 2 sheets of wax paper and cover with a kitchen towel. Line each buttered muffin cup with 1 phyllo square, pressing into bottom (don't worry if pastry rips). Fold in pastry overhang and brush inside and edges with some melted butter. In a small bowl stir together 1 tablespoon nuts and 1 tablespoon brown sugar. Sprinkle bottom of each pastry shell with ‚ teaspoon mixture. Make 2 more layers of phyllo, butter, nuts, and sugar in same manner. Bake shells in middle of oven until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Carefully lift shells out of pan and transfer to a rack to cool slightly.
• While shells are baking, cut peach into 1/2-inch-thick wedges and halve wedges crosswise. In a bowl toss peach and berries with honey, lemon juice, and vanilla and let stand at room temperature, stirring occasionally, at least 15 minutes.
• In a small bowl stir together sour cream and remaining brown sugar to taste. Just before serving, divide sour-cream mixture among shells and with a slotted spoon fill shells with fruit.
• Drizzle fruit and serving plates with some of remaining fruit juices in bowl. Sprinkle remaining nuts over tartlets.

Steps:

• Take 2 sheets of pastry and cover the rest with a damp cloth to keep from drying out.
• Brush a thin layer of butter on one sheet and stack the other sheet on top.
• Cut the stacked sheet in half.
• (A pizza cutter works great for this) Brush one rectangle with butter and place the other one on top.
• You will then have a 7 x 11 pastry sheet with four layers.
• Cut that into 12 equal squares.
• Press each square into a greased mini muffin tin.
• Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, about 10-15 minutes.
• Repeat with remaining sheets, remembering to keep unused sheets covered.
• Shells may be frozen at this point or filled and ready to serve.
• To fill: Place 1/2- 1 teaspoon of cream cheese in the center of each tart.
• Top with 1/2 to 1 tsp of jelly.
• May be served as is or baked for 10 minutes and served warm.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a small skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink, breaking into crumbles; drain. Stir in taco seasoning and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in 1/2 cup cheese blend. , Place tart shells in an ungreased 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Fill with taco mixture. , Bake 6 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese blend; bake until cheese is melted, 2-3 minutes longer. Freeze option: Freeze cooled taco cups in a freezer container, separating layers with waxed paper. To use, reheat on a baking sheet in a preheated 350° oven until crisp and heated through.

Steps:

• Sift flour and salt together into a medium bowl. Add shortening, and mix in with fingertips until the mixture resembles cornmeal. Add just enough ice water to form a dough. Gather into a ball, wrap in plastic, and place in refrigerator for a few minutes before rolling out.

Steps:

• Drain ricotta cheese in a sieve for 20 minutes; set aside.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray 6 3-inch loose-bottomed tart pans with nonfat cooking spray.
• Leave phyllo sheets in a stack and use a ruler to trace 6 5-inch squares onto top sheet (3 squares across and 2 squares down). Using a sharp knife, cut along traced lines, through all 5 sheets of dough. Immediately line each tart pan with 5 sheets of dough, lightly brushing melted butter or margarine between each layer. Trim edges of dough.
• In a medium mixing bowl, combine ricotta, sugar, egg, orange rind, vanilla extract, and nutmeg. Beat with electric mixer until smooth. Pour an equal amount of mixture into each tart pan.
• Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, until golden brown. Cool tarts slightly, then arrange raspberries on top. To serve, remove tarts from pans and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.