This week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe is technically supposed to feature scallops instead of shrimp, but my kid eats--no, gorges on--shrimp, so I'm game to cook them as often as I can. The swap was a no-brainer.
To make Shrimp and Onion Tartes Fines, you start with Dorie's favorite method of preparing puff pastry. Namely, weighing it down with a cookie sheet while it bakes to prevent it from puffing. She uses this technique in a number of recipes, and it's fine, though I don't think I'm as enamored with the outcome as Dorie is.
After the pastry is baked, cook some pancetta, then slow-cook onions in the pancetta grease until they're caramelized. I cooked the shrimp in this delicious glop, then topped the puff pastry with it. In the original recipe, you would slice raw scallops very thinly, then briefly pop the assembled tartes back in the oven.
This was straightforward and tasty, and I think that the onion/pancetta/shrimp combo makes a delicious topping for a salad, assuming that you don't care if your salad is coated in pancetta and its grease. I know that this works as a salad because my giant wedge of puff pastry collapsed on itself when i picked it up, so I ate most of it with a fork. Guess that's why Dorie says to cut them into nicely presented circles. Oops.
My big adventure for this recipe involved locating puff pastry at the Italian supermarket. I walked out with this...
At no point was I sure that I'd purchased puff pastry instead of pie dough, and the box was no help. Of all the dishes it could have shown, the image on the box depicts what seems to be an artichoke gallete. Obviously. That clears everything up. Even though galletes are made with something closer to a pie dough. Right? Beats me. I'm happy to report that "Pasta sfoglia" is, in fact, puff pastry. Phew! This could have been a hot mess.
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Thank goodness it was puff pastry! I love the shrimp sub! I had shrimp in mind in case I did not get the scallops!
ReplyDeleteI honestly can't imagine how you track down, and work hard to track down, all these ingredients in Italy. I am just so impressed. And more than a wee bit embarrassed that I have to pay close attention to finding these items at my local market (if Nana hasn't already delivered them :). Brilliant sub for the shrimp that the little guy loves. And for the record, my guys had a bit of a pastry fail on the circle shape too- but they were too busy shoveling it all in to be too slowed down...
ReplyDeleteI'm certain I would have liked this better with shrimp! Yours looks great!
ReplyDeleteLooks delicious. I think that I would have preferred your version to mine. And congrats on finding puff pastry. I have twice walked out of the store with puff pastry when I thought that I was buying phyllo dough.
ReplyDeleteAs for the pistachio oil, I highly recommend that you buy a bottle of it if you make it back to Paris. I bought mine at G. Detou and already have plans to restock on my next trip.
Bill wouldn't touch my scallop version, but he would have loved your shrimp tarte! Me, too!
ReplyDeleteI love the way your shrimp version sounds. Do you ever see Sfogliatella in pastry shops in Italy? I love to get them when I see them here, but don't know whether they are truly Italian or an Italian-American invention. It's puff pastry filled with pastry cream, semolina, cinnamon, and orange. YUM!
ReplyDeleteYes! I'm not really enamored of her puff pastry hack either. The timing is off and I think it over cooks a bit if you aren't careful. Puff pastry just wants to be free to who it is!
ReplyDeleteHa! Very adventurous of you to go ahead with the mystery pastry. I'm glad it turned out to be the puff pastry you were looking for. I went with a gluten-free pizza shell. I like your idea of cooking the shrimp in the pancetta drippings. That must have been delicious.
ReplyDeleteObviously, the artichokes made it puff pastry. Obviously :-)
ReplyDeleteI am not a fan of unpuffing the pastry. I think next time I will revolt on that concept...
Yay for picking the right pastry. The "sfoglia" reminds me of the mille foglie dessert, which is kind of like Napoleons and hence, puff pastry.
ReplyDeleteGreat minds think alike, I also went for the shrimp and enjoyed it.
What a great post (and adventure). I did not make these this week (calories, time...). I think your idea of the shrimp - particularly cooked with the onions - was a great one! I'm guessing that others would have preferred their scallops that way too (if I get around to it - I will go that direction). Your dish looks great, and I'm so happy you all enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteWhat a challenge finding the dough... I think the dish on the box looks interesting. Shrimp sounds like a great substitute.
ReplyDeleteCredit for finding puff pastry, and also for using shrimp, they look delicious. When I traveled thru France I loved bringing home packages of soups and sauces. Then we I plan to use them I knock myself out trying to translate. My little French dictionary comes in handy. Have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteYour shrimp version looks wonderful!
ReplyDeleteLOL - glad you got the pastry right, I would have been very confused. Yhe shrimp sub-in is a great idea.
ReplyDeleteYou make me laugh every Friday (however, today it's Sunday and I am just getting to your grocery shopping adventures). No way would I have considered this to be puff pastry although the oblong box is a hint. It does say pasta - guess pasta doesn't mean pasta in Italy. I think your puff pastry gave out on you because of shrimp-overload. Like Cher, I am not enamoured with flattening puff pastry. I think this is the last time Dorie makes us do it.
ReplyDeleteI don't like seafood in general but I like shrimp very much! Great call changing the scallops with shrimp!! I skipped this one...anyway puff pastry is supposed to be puffed right?
ReplyDeleteShrimp is a good sub. I do love scallops and seared mine. I wish I had made mine square. Glad you did actually have puff pastry.
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