To make a Tart of Spinage is a traditional Stuart recipe for a classic dish of a blanched spinach, currants, sugar, butter and cream mixed with hard-boiled egg yolks baked in a cream shortcrust pastry shell. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Stuart version of: To make a Tart of Spinage.
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Original Recipe
To make a Tart of Spinage (from Hannah Woolley's Queen-like Closet 1670)
47. To make a Tart of Spinage.
Take a good quantity of green Spinage, boil it in water and ſalt, and drain it well in a Cullender, then put to it plumped Currans, Nutmeg, Salt, Sugar and Butter, with a little Cream, and the yolks of hard Eggs beaten fine, then having your Paſte ready laid in your baking-pan, lay in a little butter, and then your Spinage, and then a little Butter again; ſo cloſe it, and bake it, and ſerve it to the Table hot, with Sugar ſtrewed over it.
Place the currants in a bowl, pour over some warm water or wine and set aside to plump up.
Bring a pan of lightly-salted water to a boil, add the spinach and cook for about 5 minutes, or until well wilted. Drain the spinach in a colander and chop finely. Turn into a bowl and add the 60g butter. Stir until melted then work with a fork to purฉe.
In the meantime, take just over half your pastry and roll it out until large enough to cover the base and sides of a deep pie dish. Sprinkle over half the diced butter then set aside.
Take the spinach mixture then drain the currants and work in along with the nutmeg, salt and cream. Mash the hard-boiled egg yolks and work these into the mixture as well. Turn the resultant mix into the prepared pastry case then dot the top with the remaining diced butter.
Roll out the remaining pastry and use to cover the top of the dish. Crimp the edges together and tim off any excess pastry. Cut steam holes in the top then cut the left-over pastry into decorative shapes and use to decorate the top of he pie. Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 180°C and bake for 40 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is piping hot.
