Crusty cockle tart
A small puff pastry tart case filled with cockles in a cream and egg-yolk sauce ("a la poulette" in French).
108 K 4.3/5 (23 reviews)
2 hours 55 min.
Easy
12 people
5 IngredientsLast modified on: March 17th 2013
For 12 people, you will need:
- 1
12 2⁄3 cups cockles - 2
2 2⁄3 cups puff or flaky pastry (pâte feuilletée) - 3
2 2⁄3 cups liquid cream - 4
6 egg yolks - 5
chives (optional)
Change measures:
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 2 hours 25 min.
Cooking: 30 min.
All in all: 2 hours 55 min.
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: 16:40.Change end time
Step by step recipe
Stage 1 - 2 hours
Prepare the cockles and the cooking liquid left. This can be done well in advance, or the day before.
Stage 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.
Stage 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).
Stage 4 - 10 min.
Pour 2 2⁄3 cups 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.
Stage 5 - 2 min.
Turn down the heat and add 6 egg yolks.
Stage 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.
Stage 7 - 5 min.
Stage 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: Home made.
Nutritional information
| Proteins (gr) | Carbohydrates (gr) | Fats (gr) | Energy value (in k-calories) | Energy value (in k-joules) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole recipe | 510 RDI=200 % | 2,270 RDI=220 % | 2,350 RDI=360 % | 6,410 RDI=320 % | 26,850 RDI: 320 % |
| Per 100 g | 10 RDI=5 % | 50 RDI=5 % | 50 RDI=8 % | 150 RDI=7 % | 620 RDI: 7 % |
| Per person | 40 RDI=20 % | 190 RDI=20 % | 200 RDI=30 % | 530 RDI=30 % | 2,240 RDI: 30 % |
How much will it cost?
- For 12 people : 22.55 €
- Per person : 1.90 €
Change currency: 
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: Fisherman's Ragout, Fillets of sole Dieppoise, Breton style shellfish and vegetable soup, Tagliatelle with cockles, Creamy spaghetti with cockles and parsley, ... See them all 7
Liquid cream
Like these other recipes: Summer Salmon Blanquette, Paris flan filling, Tagliatelle New Zealand style, Chocolate and vanilla crème brûlée, Bisto-style canapés, ... See them all 169
Puff or flaky pastry (pâte feuilletée)
You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Langoustine and leek tarts, Mirlitons, Cabbage and cheddar quiche, Tomato tart, Chicken and mushroom pie, ... See them all 71
Egg yolk
Like these other recipes: Chocolate cream, Chocolate eclairs, Sicilian Epiphany Pie, Spaghetti Carbonara, Langoustine sabayon tart, ... See them all 73
Other recipes you may also like
Brioche dough
It's a soft and rich dough, with butter and eggs which give a smooth and incredibly tasty brioche. This is the basic recipe for brioche dough, used for all other brioche-based recipes on the site.September 16th 2020528 K 44.2 14 hours 30 min.
Bouquet garni
Used very frequently in French cuisine, a secret of French chefs, it adds flavour to a lot of recipes, and it's easy to prepare. The basic principle is to make a small bundle of herbs, bind them in green leek leaves and to tie it up, so that the whole thing can be removed and discarded easily after...March 21th 2017418 K3.5 15 min.
Natural leaven
Leaven is a natural raising agent, a fermented mixture of water, flour and the microscopic yeasts which are present in the air. It's a delicate living substance, sensitive to the external environment. The recipe is around 4000 years old and dates back to the Egypt of the Pharaohs, via a beautiful...April 3rd 20201.70 M 304.0 7 days 15 min.
Leavened bread
It might be harder to achieve good results than with traditional yeast bread, but what a flavour! It also keeps better. This recipe is designed for baking bread in a wood-fired oven but, of course, you can use the conventional oven in your kitchen.May 23th 20171.21 M 23.8 6 hours 30 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-05-18)
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
Follow this recipe
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.