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

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

  1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius (356 degrees Fahrenheit).
  2. Cook the quinoa as you usually would in either water or vegetable stock.
  3. Strain well and leave to cool down in a mixing bowl.
  4. When the cooked quinoa has achieved room temperature incorporate the beaten egg and season with salt and pepper.
  5. 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.
  6. Place the tartelettes in the oven for 12 minutes.
  7. Then crack an egg in each small tart and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. Blanch the peas for 1 minute in boiling salted water before refreshing in ice cold water.
  11. Finely slice the spring onions and red chilies and make sure the spinach leaves are properly rinsed.
  12. 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.
  13. Finally, remove the pan from the heat, scatter in the spinach leaves, chopped mint and season well.
  14. 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.

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.

UK

Berry Bros & Rudd £12.50

UK

Wine.com $20.13 (California)

Jean-Marie Berthier, Sancerre Rosé 2015

A fabulously summery choice, this pale pink Sancerre is a sheer delight. Light, floral and fruity it is both delicate and full flavoured.

UK

Majestic Wines: £14.99

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

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Michel Roux Jr
Michel Roux Jr
Columnist
Michel Roux Jr was born in 1960 in Pembury, Kent, where his father Albert Roux worked as a private chef for the Cazalet family. His earliest food memories are the smells of the Fairlawne kitchen – pastry, sugar caramelizing and stews – where he played under the table while his father and mother Monique prepared the meals. After deciding to follow in his father’s footsteps, he left school at 16 for the first of several challenging apprenticeships at Maître Patissier, Hellegouarche in Paris from 1976 to 1979. He was then Commis de Cuisine at Alain Chapel’s signature restaurant at Mionay near Lyon, Michel’s biggest influence. His military service was spent in the kitchens at the Elysée Palace at the time of Presidents Giscard d’Estaing and François Mitterrand. He also spent time at Boucherie Lamartine and Charcuterie Mothu in Paris, and the Gavers Restaurant in London. After a stint at the Mandarin Hotel in Hong Kong he returned to London and worked at La Tante Claire before joining the family business. He took over running Le Gavroche in 1991, gradually changing the style of cooking to his own – classic French with a lighter, modern twist. Michel opened Roux at Parliament Square in May 2010 with Restaurant Associates, part of the Compass Group UK and Ireland. And in November 2010, he opened Roux at The Landau at London’s prestigious luxury hotel, The Langham. Michel was a judge and presenter on the BBC’s popular prime time show, MasterChef: The Professionals, and presented all series of ‘Great British Food Revival.’  Michel fronted BBC2’s ‘Food and Drink,’ in 2014 and presented a documentary on Escoffier, whose revolutionary approach to fine cuisine has inspired Michel and many others. In the same year, Michel went on a journey to create the perfect chocolate for the Le Gavroche Kitchen.  Filmed by the BBC, in Paris he discovered chocolatiers, Cacao Barry and their Or Noir Lab. In 2013, Michel launched his most recent cookbook, ‘The French Kitchen’.  Focusing on traditional French home cooking, this is the fifth solo cookery book from Michel. He is involved with the Roux Experience courses at the ‘Cactus Kitchens’ cookery school, with the Executive producer of Saturday Kitchen, Amanda Ross. Cactus Kitchens offers people the opportunity to learn to cook within small intimate groups from some of the UK’s finest chefs, on site above the Saturday Kitchen studios. Michel has fronted a brand new four-part Channel 4 series, ‘The Diner’, exploring the hurdles faced by people with disabilities and mental health issues when finding employment. Michel also recently presented a new program on his first ever project with the Disney Channel.  ‘First Class Chefs’ which launched in June 2015, is a show where kids aged 9-11 compete to showcase their restaurant skills.