Description

These Halloween Jack Skellington Ricotta Olive Tarts are delightful gluten-free mini tartlets perfect for a spooky-themed party. Featuring a crisp tart crust made with a blend of gluten-free flours and filled with a creamy ricotta and Greek yogurt filling, accented by savory black olives, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh thyme, and parmesan. The tarts are decorated to resemble Jack Skellington’s iconic face, making them both festive and delicious for Halloween.

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 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 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

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Prepare the crust dough: Whisk together the sweet rice flour, millet flour, oat flour, tapioca flour, and kosher 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 pea-sized.
Add ice water: Gradually dribble in ice water one tablespoon at a time, mixing after each addition until the dough holds together when pinched.
Form and chill dough: Divide the dough into 6-8 pieces depending on tart size. Shape each into a ball and flatten into a disc. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat and roll out: Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Roll each chilled dough disc between two pieces of parchment or wax paper dusted with millet flour into circles 1 inch larger than your mini tart pans.
Place dough in tart pans: Peel off one parchment, flip dough into tart pan with parchment side up, then remove the second parchment. Use your fingers to press dough into pan. Repeat for remaining tart pans.
Prepare toppings for decoration: Thinly slice 6 black olives lengthwise into paper-thin strips for the mouth. Cut 12-14 olive ovals for the nose and set aside.
Assemble initial filling base: Chop 3-4 tablespoons of black olives and evenly distribute among tart shells. Top each with 3-5 julienned sun-dried tomato strips, sprinkle about ¼ teaspoon thyme leaves, and divide parmesan cheese among tarts.
Bake crust base: Bake tarts at 400ºF for 12 minutes until crust is lightly cooked.
Make ricotta filling: While crust bakes, whisk together ricotta cheese, Greek yogurt, egg whites, minced garlic, and kosher salt until smooth.
Add ricotta filling: Remove tarts from oven and fill each tart to the top with ricotta mixture.
Decorate tarts: Place 2 whole black olives for eyes, 2 small olive ovals for the nose, and create a criss-cross mouth pattern using thin olive strips. Using chopsticks can help with placing olives delicately.
Bake filled tarts: Return tarts to oven and bake for 25 minutes or until ricotta filling is set. Begin checking for doneness around 15 minutes depending on tart pan size.
Serve and reheat: Serve warm. To reheat, bake at 400ºF for 7 minutes.

Notes

If you do not have gluten-free oat flour, grind whole oats in a food processor to make your own.
Adjust ice water quantity as needed; dough should hold together but not be sticky.
Using millet flour to dust the rolling surface prevents sticking and adds to the gluten-free crust texture.
Chilled dough is easier to roll and handle, so do not skip refrigeration.
For a stronger olive flavor, you can add more chopped olives to the filling base.
Use chopsticks or a small tweezer to place olive decorations neatly on the tarts.
Check ricotta filling for firmness a few minutes before baking time ends to avoid overbaking and drying out the tarts.
These tarts are best served warm but can be reheated as instructed for convenience.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1 tart
Calories: 180 kcal
Sugar: 2 g
Sodium: 350 mg
Fat: 12 g
Saturated Fat: 6 g
Unsaturated Fat: 5 g
Trans Fat: 0 g
Carbohydrates: 12 g
Fiber: 1.5 g
Protein: 6 g
Cholesterol: 40 mg