Description
These Halloween Jack Skellington Ricotta Olive Tarts are a festive and delicious gluten-free treat perfect for Halloween parties. Featuring a crisp gluten-free tart crust filled with creamy ricotta and Greek yogurt, black olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and fresh thyme, they combine spooky aesthetics with savory flavors.
Ingredients
Scale
Gluten-Free Tart Crust
- ½ cup sweet rice flour
- ¼ cup millet flour
- ⅓ cup gluten-free oat flour
- 3 tablespoons tapioca flour
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
- 7 tablespoons ice water
Filling
- 1 can black olives
- 4 tablespoons julienned sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
- 3 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
- 3 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1½ cups ricotta cheese
- 6 tablespoons Greek yogurt
- 3 egg whites
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Prepare the crust: Whisk together the sweet rice flour, millet flour, oat flour, tapioca starch, and salt in a large bowl. Add the cold butter pieces and mix with your hands, breaking up the butter until the largest pieces are about the size of a pea. Gradually add ice water a tablespoon at a time, mixing continuously until the dough holds together when pinched.
- Chill the dough: Divide the dough into 6-8 pieces depending on tart size. Roll each into a ball and flatten into a disc. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven and roll dough: Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Roll out each dough disc between sheets of parchment or wax paper dusted with millet flour until about 1 inch larger than the tart pan diameter. Transfer the dough to tart pans, peel off parchment, and press into place. Work in batches if needed.
- Prepare filling toppings: Thinly slice 6 black olives lengthwise into paper-thin strips for the mouth. Cut 12-14 oval slices for the nose and set aside. Chop 3-4 tablespoons of olives for the initial topping.
- Assemble initial tart layer: Divide the chopped olives among each tart, then add 3-5 strips of julienned sun-dried tomatoes per tart. Sprinkle about ¼ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves and evenly distribute parmesan cheese. Bake for 12 minutes until crust is lightly cooked.
- Mix ricotta filling: Meanwhile, whisk together ricotta, Greek yogurt, egg whites, minced garlic, and salt until smooth.
- Fill tarts and decorate: Remove tarts from oven and fill each tart shell to the top with the ricotta mixture. Arrange two whole black olives for eyes, two small olive ovals for the nose, and delicately create a criss-cross mouth with the thin olive strips using chopsticks or tweezers for precision.
- Bake filled tarts: Bake for 25 minutes or until the ricotta filling is set. Start checking doneness around 15 minutes depending on tart size. Serve warm.
- Reheat instructions: To reheat, bake tarts at 400ºF for 7 minutes until warmed through.
Notes
- Use gluten-free oat flour made by grinding whole oats for best texture.
- Control the water quantity to ensure dough is just holding together, avoid over-wetting.
- Thinly slicing olives for the mouth creates a striking Jack Skellington smile.
- Use chopsticks or tweezers to carefully place olive decorations for precision.
- Mini tart pans around 3-4 inches work best for this recipe.
- Sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil add sweetness and color contrast.
- Ricotta filling can be mixed up to a day ahead and refrigerated.
- Check doneness carefully to avoid overbaking the delicate filling.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 tart
- Calories: 210 kcal
- Sugar: 2 g
- Sodium: 280 mg
- Fat: 14 g
- Saturated Fat: 7 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 15 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 7 g
- Cholesterol: 45 mg
