Recipe with quinoa and wines to match

See Michel Roux Jr's quinoa tartelettes; the ideal recipe for a light summer lunch, or even a colourful aperitif. These delicious quinoa based tartelettes are perfect for people with a wheat intolerance and you can mix and match vegetables to your heart’s content. You could also make a sweet version by adding a little sugar in the water whilst cooking the quinoa, and fill with seasonal fruit and caramel.

Recipe with quinoa: Michel Roux Jr’s individual summer tartelettes with a quinoa crust

Serving: Makes five tartelettes 10cm wide

Ingredients

To prepare the quinoa crust:

300g cooked quinoa
1 whole egg

To prepare the filling:

160g fresh garden peas
150g baby spinach
80g feta
5 whole eggs
A handful of Tomberry tomatoes
1 small red chili (optional)
1 spring onion
1 tablespoon finely chopped mint leaves
1 tablespooon butter
Salt and pepper

Method

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius (356 degrees Fahrenheit).
Cook the quinoa as you usually would in either water or vegetable stock.
Strain well and leave to cool down in a mixing bowl.
When the cooked quinoa has achieved room temperature incorporate the beaten egg and season with salt and pepper.
The quinoa should no longer be crumbly but rather compact and holding itself together. At this point, you can start filling the greased tartelette moulds by gently pressing the mixture into place. The crust must be at least 5mm thick for it to hold during the cooking process.
Place the tartelettes in the oven for 12 minutes.
Then crack an egg in each small tart and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes.
Once the egg is completely cooked, remove the tartelettes from the oven and leave to cool down for a few minutes before detaching from the moulds.
You can use various different veggies to fill your small tarts. However, I have opted for seasonal garden peas, spinach, freshly chopped mint leaves and some spicy red chilies.
Blanch the peas for 1 minute in boiling salted water before refreshing in ice cold water.
Finely slice the spring onions and red chilies and make sure the spinach leaves are properly rinsed.
Place the butter in a medium sized saucepan over a gentle heat. Add the onions, peas and chili to the pan and sauté for a couple of minutes.
Finally, remove the pan from the heat, scatter in the spinach leaves, chopped mint and season well.
Dress these beautiful veggies all around the yolk and add the halved tomatoes and cheese for an extra tang.

See more Michel Roux Jr recipes with wines to match

Wines to match with this quinoa recipe

A slightly crisp and mineral Chenin Blanc will do wonders for these vibrant savoury tarts. I recommend the Vouvray 2014 from Vincent Carême, which is packed with tantalising green apple flavours.

For a picture-perfect summer aperitif, I suggest you try Jean-Marie Berthier’s Sancerre Rosé 2015. It has a great balance between freshness and acidity. Served nice and chilled, this rosé is the perfect accompaniment to these sophisticated tartelettes.

Read also: Five great value rosé wines to try

The well balanced Colombo et Fille, St Peray 2014 complements the luscious creaminess of the just-cooked yolk. Fermented in oak barrels, this delectable white wine from the Rhone region delivers gorgeous citrus aromas.

Buy the wines

Vincent Carême, Vouvray 2014

Wonderfully light and crisp, this Chenin Blanc is full of fresh, fruity flavours. Both sweet and fresh here is a subtle chalkiness that makes this wine perfectly balanced and a great partner to the seasonal flavours of the tartelettes.

Colombo & Fille, St-Peray, Rhône 2014

Fantastic minerality with of course a wonderful oakiness. Rich and elegant it is a suitably sophisticated wine to partner alongside these delicate summer tartelettes.

UK
The Halifax Wine Company: £18.95

Alternative wines: See Decanter’s top southern Rhône whites

Edited for Decanter.com by Chris Mercer

Recipe with quinoa and wines to match – Michel Roux Jr