Crusty cockle tart
A small puff pastry tart case filled with cockles in a cream and egg-yolk sauce ("a la poulette" in French).
126 K 4.3/5 (23 reviews)527545
Last modified on: October 27th 2026
For 4 people, you will need:
- 1
1 kg cockles - 2
200 g puff or flaky pastry (pâte feuilletée) - 3
200 ml liquid cream - 4
2 egg yolks - 5
Chives (optional) - Total weight: 1,440 grams
Times for this recipe
Preparation
2 hours 25 min.
Cooking
30 min.
All in all
2 hours 55 min.
When should you start or finish this recipe?
If you start now, at , you will finish around: ?.Change start time
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Step by step recipe
Step 1 - ⌛ 2 hours
Prepare the cockles and the cooking liquid left. This can be done well in advance, or the day before.
Step 2 - ⌛ 10 min.
Preheat the oven to 220°C (430°F).
Roll out the pastry and line the tart moulds or tins. Fill with baking beans (or lentils) to prevent the pastry puffing up too much.
Roll out the pastry and line the tart moulds or tins. Fill with baking beans (or lentils) to prevent the pastry puffing up too much.
Step 3 - ⌛ 15 min.
Bake the tart cases for around 15 minutes, watching for colouring.
Remove the baking beans and keep the cases hot in the residual oven heat (after turning off).
Remove the baking beans and keep the cases hot in the residual oven heat (after turning off).
Step 4 - ⌛ 10 min.
Pour 200 ml liquid cream into a pan and bring to the boil over medium heat. Add pepper but no salt.
Add around 5 tablespoonsful of the cockle cooking liquid and taste to check the seasoning. If necessary, add a little more of the cockle liquid.
Add around 5 tablespoonsful of the cockle cooking liquid and taste to check the seasoning. If necessary, add a little more of the cockle liquid.
Step 5 - ⌛ 2 min.
Turn down the heat and add 2 egg yolks.
Step 6 - ⌛ 5 min.
Beat to mix thoroughly and continue beating gently until the "à la poulette" (chick) sauce thickens.
Remove from the heat as soon as it is thick enough.
Remove from the heat as soon as it is thick enough.
Step 7 - ⌛ 5 min.
Step 8 - ⌛ 5 min.
Place a tart case on each plate and fill with a spoonful or two of cockles in sauce.
You can also pour the sauce over whatever you are serving on the side, such as the rice shown here.
Serve immediately.
You can also pour the sauce over whatever you are serving on the side, such as the rice shown here.
Serve immediately.
Remarks
Just before serving, you can add a few chopped chives to the sauce if you wish.
Tarts like this should be served immediately as the sauce will soon start to soften the pastry and make them less appealing.
Tarts like this should be served immediately as the sauce will soon start to soften the pastry and make them less appealing.
And to drink?
A dry white wine, such as a "Gros-plant" from the Nantes region.
Keeping: A few minutes once filled.
Source: Homemade.
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Nutritional information
| Proteins | Carbohydrates | Fats | Calories | Energy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per 100 g | 13 g RDI=20 % | 6 g RDI=2 % | 10 g RDI=13 % | 163 kcal RDI=8 % | 684 kJ RDI=8 % |
| Per person | 48 g RDI=73 % | 22 g RDI=8 % | 34 g RDI=47 % | 589 kcal RDI=29 % | 2,464 kJ RDI=29 % |
| Whole recipe | 191 g RDI=293 % | 89 g RDI=34 % | 138 g RDI=188 % | 2,354 kcal RDI=118 % | 9,856 kJ RDI=118 % |
How much will it cost?
For 4 people
7.55 €
Per person
1.90 €
Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
This recipe uses (among others)
Cockles
You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example:
Puff or flaky pastry (pâte feuilletée)
You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example:
Egg yolk
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