Sauerkraut and mushroom TARTS

Directions

1. If you use dry wild mushroom,soak them overnight,then rinse, cover with water,bring to boil and simmer for around 1 hour until soft.
2. Make the pastry.Sift the flour into a medium bowl,add butter and egg.Rub the butter and egg into the flour with your fingertips.Add cold water and combine together using your (or someone’s else’s :)hands.If the mixture feels too crumbly add some more water.Cut out 1/3 of the pastry(it’s going to be the top layer),flatten both parts of pastry into discs,wrap with cling film and put in the fridge for 1 hour.
3. Prepare the sauerkraut filling.Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a medium saucepan,add the onions and garlic,fry until golden.Rinse the sauerkraut generously with water and add to the saucepan(You might want to chop it first).If you use dry mushroom,place them in a saucepan now(cooked and chopped).Season with salt and pepper,add parsley and cook covered for around 1/2 hour,stirring it from time to time and adding couple of tablespoons of water if necessary.If you use fresh chestnut mushrooms,melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a medium pan,add mushrooms,cook until soft and mix with sauerkraut just before taking it off the hob.Let the filling to cool down.
4. Preheat the oven to 190C/374F.
5. Take the pastry(bigger part)out the fridge and roll out on a lightly floured surface in a size of 4 small baking dishes or 1 bigger.Place the pastry over the dishes or dish and run a rolling pin on the rims of each one to get a perfectly lined tarts.Prick each one with a fork,cover with baking paper and baking(or dry) beans.Bake for 20 minutes.
6. Take the tarts from the oven,remove the beans and paper,put back in the oven for extra 10 minutes until the pastry turns golden.Remove from the oven.
7. Spoon the filling(cold) over the tarts.Take out the remaining pastry from the fridge.Roll it out quite thin(about 5 mm) and cut into stripes.Woven the stripes over the tops of the tarts.Brush with beaten egg,put in the oven and bake for 45 minutes.
8. Serve warm.
9. NOTES: In a traditional recipe sauerkraut and mushroom filling is always made with dry wild mushrooms.But I understand that they might not be available everywhere or they are ridiculously expensive so here come fresh chestnut mushroom to help.Mind that the taste will be different to traditional sauerkraut and mushroom filling if you use fresh ones. Some sauerkrauts are already chopped in a jar.If it’s still in form of quite long strings I would advise you to chop it(not too finely tho). Enjoy xxx