Tarteletter are one of those homey grandmother style dishes that everyone likes eating during holidays and celebrations, but almost never any other time. Danish people love tarteletter. It is part of general pop culture and referred to in TV and movies all the time. Here are some clips from Danish TV. Check it out:
That's some pretty weird stuff.
Tarteletter are baked puff pastry cups filled with a savoury filling. The most common filling is exactly like chicken pot pie, but shrimp and asparagus is also popular. I decided to make lamb, shrimp, and dill tarteletter for Easter lunch to be a bit different.
Lamb and shrimp stew is a classic Scandinavian dish that seems a bit strange at first. The combo feels more like something you would get in Hong Kong or Vietnam, but I suppose the marriage of land and sea applies to a lot of cuisines. Gumbo in Louisiana, paella in Valencia, shrimp and pork gyoza, etc. The lamb is cooked slowly like a blanquette de veau and the shrimp and herbs are added near the end. It makes a nice spring dish. I found some samphire they had at the fish shop to add some salty crunch and to kind of tie the land and sea thing together. It worked out great and I will make them again. Tartletter shells are available in all the supermarkets in Denmark. You could use large vol au vents or even turn the whole dish upside down and make it with a puff pastry top if you want.
Recipe for Lamb, Shrimp, and dill Tartlets
Take 1kg boneless lamb leg cut into bite size pieces and put it in a pot with about 1l water, a few bay leaves, 1 chopped leek, 2 diced carrots, 1 diced onion a bit of salt and a splash of white wine.
Simmer for about a hour and a half until the lamb is very tender. Thicken with a small amount of beurre manié (flour and butter) and add 1dl whipping cream. Finish seasoning with cracked pepper and more salt if necessary.
Add 250g baby shrimps and a handful of fresh chopped dill and heat through.
spoon into puff pastry tart shells and serve
If you have access to samphire, blanch it for about 30 seconds in boiling water to soften, and take away a bit of the saltiness. Add it with the shrimp and dill, and keep it in mind when your seasoning the blanquette
