Egg Custard Tart - A Student Dessert

The egg tart is probably one of my fonder memories from the UK. Walking into Tesco's and seeing them meanly LOADED absolutely FULL of custard and crumbly pastry flecked with nutmeg. Mmmmmm.... No doubt they contained little goodness and most probably came under the category of 'processed food'. This recipe is an honest portrayal of the classic French delicacy which the British and world citizen's alike have enjoyed for many years and will continue to enjoy for many more. 

Custard Tart

Ingredients:

• 175g plain flour
• 100g butter
• 25g icing sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tbsp cold water

• 300ml milk
• 2 eggs 
• 1 egg yolk
• 25g caster sugar
• 1 tsp nutmeg powder

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees C

1. Rub together the flour, butter and icing sugar until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs
2. Add the egg yolk and water until the mixture just sticks together in a ball
3. Roll out on a lightly floured surface until thin enough to cover the base of a regular tart tin
4. Place parchment paper over the top and weight down with baking beans
5. Bake for 7 mins
6. Remove when cooked
7. Meanwhile, heat the milk on a medium heat in a small saucepan until small bubbles form round the edge
8. Remove from the heat
9. Separately, in a large heat-proof bowl, whisk the eggs and yolk together with the caster sugar
10. Pour the warm milk into the eggs
11.  Whisk, briskly, until completely blended 
12. Sieve into the baked pastry case
13. Sprinkle the nutmeg evenly over the top
14. Bake for 15 mins
15. Reduce the oven temperature to 170 degrees C WITHOUT removing the tart from the oven
16. Bake for a further 30 mins
17. Serve warm or cold

Before Baking

After Baking

Pasta and Meatballs - A Student Meal

I made this one Tuesday night for my family. It's really simple but incredibly tasty and not too tight in the pocket :D - an added bonus!!

Almost ready to be served :D

It's really not that hard. To serve 5, you'll need;

• an onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 x packets of pre-formed meatballs (each containing 16 meatballs)
• one jar of tomato sauce
• tbsp tomato puree 
• 5 fresh basil leaves
• 500g pasta
• pinch of salt 

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a wok
2. Dice the onion and add to the pan
3. Fry until brown and then thinly slice the garlic cloves and add
4. Boil a full kettle of water 
5. Empty the pasta in a deep empty pan
6. Once the kettle has boiled, pour over the water until just covered and another tbsp of oil to it
7. leave to boil on a meduim heat
8. Meanwhile, put the meatballs into the onions and garlic and fry until completely browned and golden in some parts

The partially cooked meatball

9. Once cooked, mix with the tomato puree and then the sauce

10. Bring to the boil and season with a pinch of salt and pepper

11. Take the pasta off the heat and add a pinch of salt

12. Finely, cut the basil leaves and place in the meatball sauce

drain the pasta and serve

13. Turn off the meatballs and pour over the top

14. Serve

The good thing about this meal is that the meatballs stay lovely and moist and the sauce is very thick. Also, because the balls are beef, you should need to worry about them being cooked all the way through to avoid food poisoning as you do with chicken.