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Tartelettes a LA Polenta

Small pastry shells filled with a polenta and cheese mixture, topped with meat, mushrooms, and béchamel, baked until golden.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Parmesan cheese and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,199 recipes. Both carry methyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells apple, fatty. The science ↓

Tartelettes a LA Polenta

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the pastry

  1. Roll out the pastry very thin.

  2. Cut out rounds to line 8 to 9 tartlet molds.

  3. Prick the pastry with a fork after lining the molds.

Make the polenta

  1. In a saucepan, combine the milk and ½ cup of water, add the butter and a pinch of salt, and bring to a boil.

  2. Stir in the polenta and cook over heat for 10 minutes while stirring.

  3. Add the Parmesan cheese, remove from heat, and mix in the egg yolks.

  4. Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste, then let cool.

Make the filling

  1. Finely chop the chicken, tongue, and mushrooms.

  2. Mix the chopped meat and mushrooms with the béchamel sauce, and season with pepper.

Assemble and bake

  1. Half-fill the tartlet molds with the polenta mixture.

  2. Add a spoonful of the salpicon in the center.

  3. Top with more polenta mixture.

  4. Smooth the top with a knife.

  5. Brush with melted butter.

  6. Sprinkle with grated cheese.

  7. Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

  8. Unmold and serve on a hot dish.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Parmesan cheese + mushroomtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,199 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  4. Parmesan cheese + buttertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,163 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Milk + mushroomtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,231 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Polenta
Forms the thick, sliceable body of the filling as it cooks and sets.
Egg yolks
Enrich the polenta and help it set firm when baked.
Parmesan cheese
Adds savory depth and helps the filling brown on top.
Butter
Adds richness and helps the top brown while baking.
Milk
Softens the polenta and adds creaminess to the filling.
Béchamel sauce
Binds the chopped meat and mushrooms into a moist filling.

The step that matters

Cook the polenta until thick. Polenta must cook long enough with constant stirring to thicken fully and avoid lumps or scorching. Undercooked polenta stays loose and will not set once the egg yolks are added and baked.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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