This has been a very busy week; lots of appointments and running around. I was tired today and really didn't feel much like cooking, but I know that tomorrow is going to be another busy day and I may not get a chance to cook, so I figured I'd better cobble something together for dinner tonight.
I had some ready-made pie crusts in the freezer that really want used, so I decided to peruse the Book of Old Tarts to see if it held any inspiration. I've been buying Beyond Meat sausages whenever they go on sale and stashing them in the freezer for later use and I've finally restocked on cream as well, so this sausage and mustard tart caught my eye. I didn't have the right kind of beans, but I figured I'd swap in gigantes and give it a try anyway.

The original recipe calls for a "shallow 9-inch tart tin". I have a shallow 9" tart tin, so I baked it in that. This worked fine, but only, I think, because I was a little shy on the beans and didn't press the sausages down into the filling as directed. The sausages were also a bit too long to fit neatly in the tin. I think I'd be inclined to try it with a 10" tin next time.

As you can see, the tart lacked some structural integrity. I'm not sure if the filling was too wet or the crust was too thin or if it needed more time in the oven or what. That said, the flavour was excellent!

Sausage and Mustard Tart

Slightly adapted from the Book of Old Tarts

Ingredients

• 175g pastry
• 4 c. cooked butter beans or great northern beans (haricot beans)¹
• 3 Tbsp. Roman Mustard, divided
• 2 Tbsp. ketchup
• 3 Tbsp. table (18%) cream
• salt and pepper, to taste²
• 8 chipolata sausages or 4 mild Italian sausages, halved
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Directions

1. Roll out the pastry and use it to line a 23 or 25cm (9 or 10") shallow tart tin.³
2. Blind bake at 200°C (400°F) for 15 minutes. Ideally you would then remove the pie weights, brush with egg, and bake for another 5 minutes. I skipped the brushing with egg step.
3. Meanwhile, purée the beans with 2 Tbsp. of the mustard, ketchup, cream, salt, and pepper.
4. Pour the bean purée into the baked pie shell.
5. Place the sausages (or sausage halves) on top in a wheel spoke pattern, pressing them down into the filling.
6. Cover the pie with foil and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 35 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, combine the remaining 1 Tbsp. mustard, brown sugar, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce and mix well.
8. After 35 minutes, uncover the pie and brush with the mustard mixture.
9. Return to oven and bake for another 10 minutes.
10. Serve with fried onions, gravy, and/or creamed kale.

---

Variations

Vegetarian Version

This makes for an easy vegetarian meal. Just use vegetarian sausages and Worcestershire sauce.

---

¹ I didn't have either, so I used gigantes (mature lima beans). I cooked them in mixture of water and chicken stock with onion, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, chili flakes, and a Parmesan rind. ^Back
2 I didn't add any salt and pepper since there was already some in the cooking liquid from the beans. When I drained the beans, I removed the bay leaves and the Parmesan rind but left the peppercorns in. ^Back
3 The original recipe calls for a 9" tin, but that size seemed a bit small to me. I'll probably use a 10" tin the next time I make this recipe. ^Back