Description

These Halloween Jack Skellington Ricotta Olive Tarts are spooky, savory mini tartlets perfect for festive gatherings. Made with a gluten-free crust and creamy ricotta filling, they feature striking black olive decorations inspired by Jack Skellington’s iconic face. The tarts combine the earthiness of sun-dried tomatoes, fresh thyme, and parmesan cheese for a flavorful, seasonal appetizer that is both visually impressive and delicious.

Ingredients

Scale

Gluten-Free Tart Crust

½ cup sweet rice flour
¼ cup millet flour
⅓ cup gluten-free oat flour (made by grinding whole oats)
3 tablespoons Bob’s Red Mill tapioca flour or corn starch
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
5-7 tablespoons ice water

Filling

1 can black olives
3-4 tablespoons julienned sun-dried tomatoes (from a jar packed in oil)
2-3 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
3 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
1½ cups ricotta cheese
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt
3 egg whites
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon kosher salt

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Instructions

Prepare the Crust: In a large bowl, whisk together all the flours, tapioca starch, and kosher salt. Add cold butter pieces and mix with your hands, breaking butter down until pea-sized. Gradually add ice water, one tablespoon at a time, mixing until dough holds together when pinched.
Chill the Dough: Divide the dough into 6-8 portions depending on tartlet size. Roll each into a ball, flatten into discs, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat Oven: Set oven to 400ºF (204ºC).
Roll Out Crusts: Roll each dough disc between two sheets of wax or parchment paper, dusted with millet flour, to a circle about 1 inch larger than tart pans.
Fit Dough into Tart Pans: Peel off one parchment side and flip dough into tart pan with parchment up, then remove second parchment and gently press dough into pan. Repeat for all tartlets, working in batches if needed.
Prepare Filling Garnishes: Thinly slice 6 black olives lengthwise into very thin strips for the mouth decorations. Cut 12-14 small olive ovals for the nose. Chop remaining olives.
Assemble Tart Bases: Distribute chopped olives evenly over crusts. Place 3-5 strips of julienned sun-dried tomatoes on each tart, sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves and grated parmesan cheese.
Par-Bake the Crusts: Bake tarts for 12 minutes until crusts are lightly cooked.
Mix Ricotta Filling: Whisk together ricotta, Greek yogurt, egg whites, minced garlic, and salt until smooth.
Add Filling to Tarts: Remove crusts from oven and fill each tart to the top with ricotta mixture.
Decorate Tarts: Place two whole black olives as eyes and two small olive ovals as noses onto each tart. Use thin olive strips to create a criss-cross mouth pattern, using chopsticks for precise placement.
Bake Filled Tarts: Bake at 400ºF for 20-25 minutes until ricotta filling is set. Start checking at 15 minutes depending on tart size.
Serve and Reheat: Serve warm. To reheat, bake at 400ºF for 7 minutes.

Notes

Use millet flour to dust parchment sheets to prevent sticking while rolling dough.
Depending on your mini tart pan size, you may make between 6 to 8 tarts.
Use chopsticks or small tweezers to delicately place olive decorations.
To make gluten-free oat flour, grind whole oats in a food processor until fine.
Reheat tarts gently to maintain crispness of crust and creamy texture of filling.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1 mini tart
Calories: 180
Sugar: 1.5g
Sodium: 250mg
Fat: 12g
Saturated Fat: 7g
Unsaturated Fat: 4g
Trans Fat: 0g
Carbohydrates: 12g
Fiber: 2g
Protein: 6g
Cholesterol: 35mg