Essential · about 3 hours, with 45–60 minutes of dough rest · Serves 4
Ham and smoked cheese tart
Illustrative image generated with AI, not a photo of the cooked dish.
Kitchen test pending
The ham and cheese tart of the Argentine family table, made with more care: a crisp crust and an egg and cream filling, with plenty of cheese and ham. The aim is a tart with firm edges and a creamy center, which can be served hot, warm or at room temperature.
The twist is to add layers of flavor without changing the format. The crust is a Parmesan sablée, crisper and tastier than regular tart dough. The filling combines three cheeses —semi-hard (Gouda-style), smoked provolone and Gruyère or pecorino sardo— with cream cheese, mustard and a confit leek that adds sweetness; the ham is glazed with sweet red vermouth and honey. At serving, cured ham chips, drops of green parsley oil and a line of Malbec reduction give crunch, freshness and acidity.
Special equipment: 22–24 cm tart pan; baking weights or dried beans; food processor optional
Ingredients
Parmesan sablée dough
- 250 g 00 flour
- 30 g fine semolina
- 25 g finely grated Parmesan
- 5 g fine salt
- 1 pinch of white pepper
- 140 g cold butter, in cubes
- 1 egg, beaten
- 10–20 ml ice water, only if needed
Filling
- 10 ml olive oil
- 1 large leek, about 120 g of white and light green part, in thin rounds
- 10 g butter
- 200 g natural cooked ham, in 5–7 mm cubes
- 40 ml sweet red vermouth
- 10 g honey or cane honey
- 4 eggs
- 200 ml heavy cream
- 120 ml milk
- 60 g cream cheese
- 15 g Dijon or whole-grain mustard
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- White pepper and salt
- 150 g semi-hard cheese (Gouda-style), grated
- 80 g smoked provolone, grated
- 80 g Gruyère or pecorino sardo, grated
Finishing
- 4–6 slices of cured ham
- 1 small bunch of parsley
- 40 ml mild olive oil
- 30 ml Malbec reduction or balsamic vinegar
- Microgreens, optional
Method
Parmesan sablée dough
- Sanding. Mix in a food processor or a bowl the flour, semolina, Parmesan, salt and pepper. Add the very cold butter and work quickly to a damp-sand texture. Add the egg and mix only until the dough begins to come together, adding ice water 5 ml at a time if very dry. Do not overwork. Form a disc, wrap it and refrigerate 45–60 minutes.
- Lining. Roll the dough to 3–4 mm and line the bottom and sides of the pan, pressing without stretching. Trim the excess, prick the base with a fork and put the pan in the freezer 15 minutes, so the edges do not shrink.
- Blind baking. Bake at 180 °C (355 °F) with parchment paper and weights 12 minutes; remove paper and weights and continue about 5 minutes, until the surface just begins to brown.
Filling
- Confit leek. Cook the leek with the oil and a pinch of salt over low heat 12–15 minutes, until very tender, translucent and sweet, without toasting.
- Glazed ham. Sauté the ham with the butter 1–2 minutes, add the vermouth and cook until the alcohol evaporates and the liquid reduces almost completely. Add the honey and mix a few seconds, until just glazed. Let it cool.
- Custard. Whisk, without incorporating much air, the eggs, cream, milk, cream cheese, mustard, nutmeg and pepper. Add the three cheeses, the leek and the ham, and taste before salting.
- Assembly and baking. Set the blind-baked shell on a tray and distribute the filling evenly, leaving a few millimeters of margin to the edge. Lower the oven to 155–160 °C (310–320 °F) and bake 28–35 minutes, until the edges are firm, the surface barely golden and the center still moves slightly when the pan is shaken. A hotter oven dries the filling, over-coagulates the egg and separates the fat from the cheeses. Rest 15 minutes before unmolding or cutting.
Finishing
- Ham chips. Bake the cured ham slices between two sheets of parchment paper or two silicone mats at 140 °C (285 °F) for 10–12 minutes, until dry and crisp; as they cool they gain more crispness. Store in a dry place.
- Green oil. Blanch the parsley leaves 10–15 seconds, move them to ice water, drain and dry them very well. Blend with the oil to an intense green and strain fine.
- Reduction. If a store-bought balsamic reduction is not used, reduce about 120 ml of Malbec over gentle heat to 30 ml, just syrupy.
The dish
Use dark plates, of matte ceramic or stone, which contrast with the gold of the tart. Cut a triangular portion and set it slightly off center. Draw a line or a thin half-moon of Malbec or balsamic reduction, add a few small drops of green oil and rest one or two cured ham chips on the tart; if you like, finish with a few microgreens. Final look: a golden portion with a creamy cut flecked with ham, the crisp crust, the dark stroke of the reduction and the intense green of the oil.
Key points
- Work the dough quickly and cold, without kneading, so it stays sablée and not tough.
- Freeze the lined pan before blind baking, so the edges do not shrink.
- Do not fill the pan to the brim.
- Bake at moderate temperature and remove with the center still trembling.
- Add the green oil, chips and reduction only at serving.
Pairing
A very cold Brut Nature sparkling wine of Chardonnay or Pinot Noir: its acidity and bubbles balance the fat of the cheeses, the butter in the crust and the sweetness of the glazed ham. As an alternative, a dry cider.
Notes
- Reheating: heat the portions in the oven at 160 °C (320 °F) for 6–8 minutes, until the center reaches 74 °C (165 °F) if the tart was in the refrigerator, without overdoing it so the filling stays creamy. Add the oil, chips and reduction afterward.
- Storage: cool leftover tart uncovered and refrigerate within 2 hours, up to 3 days at 5 °C (41 °F) or below.