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A South African savoury tart (or sout tert) is a popular South African recipe, made with chopped sausages and hard-boiled eggs, mixed in a creamy cheese sauce, and baked in a pastry shell. It's a favourite at any get-together, and a slice of this savoury tart makes a delicious quick and easy lunch.
This recipe has been updated with clearer instructions and new images. The original recipe remains unchanged.
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- South African Sout Tert Recipe
- What you will need
- What to do
- Storage and reheating
- Save for later
- Other South African recipes
- 📋The recipe
South African Sout Tert Recipe
When my daughter Kathy, who lives in South Africa, was over for a visit not too long ago, her first words to me were 'Please put that savoury tart up on your website - you know the one - the sout tert that Ouma used to make'.
This savoury tart has long been a family favourite, making its appearance at various get-togethers over the years. It's made by chopping sausages and hard-boiled eggs and mixing these with a creamy cheese sauce. It is then baked in a crispy shortcrust pastry case. To be honest, it is so easy to make, I'm surprised she can't remember how to make it.
Sout tert (pronounced Sowt Tert) is the Afrikaans name for this recipe. Sout means either salt or savoury depending on the context in which you use it. So in this case, sout tert simply means savoury tart.
Back in the day, when my mother-in-law first showed me how to make it, a savoury tart was made with red Vienna sausages. In those days, Vienna sausages were of very dubious origin. The outer skin was a lurid pinkish-red colour, and the inner meat was a very highly processed 'something'. It was probably best that we didn't know what that 'something' was. I believe that there are regulations in place now, to prohibit the addition of all the colourings that were added.
Luckily, I've found a substitute for the old-time Viennas. Lidl does a very nice range of German bockwurst which I use instead. And even if I say it myself, I think it tastes better than the original version.
So Kathy, here is the sout tert recipe you asked for.
What you will need
Equipment
This recipe is sufficient for a 10" x 8" x 2.5" baking dish, but you may find you have a little pastry left over. I normally make 2 tarts, one of them in a 9" x 7* dish and another smaller one in a 6" x 4" dish. There is enough filling, and it means I use up all the pastry.
If you are going to be making your own pastry, you will need a mixing bowl and a rolling pin.
You will also need a saucepan for making the cheese sauce, and a sharp knife and a chopping board for cutting up the eggs and sausages.
Ingredients
**You can get the complete list of ingredients and full instructions on how to make this savoury tart on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**
- Hard-boiled eggs - shelled and sliced
- Bockwurst sausages (or good quality Vienna sausages) - chopped into rounds.
- Grated cheddar cheese - you can use any cheese that you would normally use for cooking.
- Butter - don't use margarine, butter gives a much better flavour.
- Cornflour/cornstarch - this is used for thickening the filling
- Milk - full-cream or semi-skimmed, it doesn't matter.
- Salt - this is optional
- Ground black pepper - black pepper always goes well with eggs
You will also need
- 1 quantity of shortcrust pastry - you can get instructions for making shortcrust pastry from this Bacon and Egg Pie recipe, or you can buy a roll of ready-made shortcrust pastry in the supermarket.
What to do
In a nutshell, here's what you have to do:
- Chop up the eggs and sausages.
- Make the cheese sauce.
- Line your baking dish
- Assemble and bake
Cheese sauce
Melt the butter in a saucepan, then stir in the cornflour.
Make sure you get out all the lumps.
Pour the milk into the butter mixture and stir with a balloon whisk over a gentle heat until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens.
The whisk should leave a slight trail in the sauce.
Add three-quarters of the cheese and the salt and pepper, and stir on a gentle heat until the cheese has melted.
Your sauce should have a thick pourable consistency.
Stir in the chopped eggs and sausages and mix thoroughly to combine.
Set aside to cool while you line the pie dish.
Assemble and bake
Brush the baking dish lightly with a teaspoon of sunflower oil.
Roll out the pastry to about one-eighth inch thickness and use it to line your baking dish.
I like to press a fork around the edges of the pastry and then trim away any excess pastry with a sharp knife.
Pour the cooled filling into the pastry case.
Sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese.
Bake in a preheated oven (200C / 400F) for 25 to 30 minutes until the cheese has melted and the edges of the pastry are golden.
You should store the cooled tart in a covered container in the refrigerator, but it does taste best at room temperature. For this reason, you should remove it from the refrigerator half an hour before serving.
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Storage and reheating
This dish is not suitable for freezing as it may split and become watery once defrosted.
However, you can make it up to 3 days in advance and store covered in the refrigerator.
It can be reheated either in a hot oven for about 8 minutes or in the microwave, or left on the counter for half an hour to come to room temperature
Save for later
If you'd like to try this savoury tart for yourself, why not pin the recipe to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it easily? Just click on the image below.
Alternatively, you can save the recipe by clicking on the floating heart icon on the right-hand side of the screen.
Other South African recipes
If you enjoyed this savoury tart you may also like to try some of my other South African recipes. These are some of my favourites
- Easy Koeksisters with 2-ingredient dough
- South African lamb bredie (lamb stew)
- Bobotie - a traditional South African curry bake
- Chutney and mayonnaise chicken bake
📋The recipe
South African savoury tart (sout tert)
A South African savoury tart (or sout tert) is a popular South African recipe, made with chopped sausages and hard-boiled eggs, mixed in a creamy cheese sauce, and baked in a pastry shell. It's a favourite at any get-together, and a slice of this savoury tart makes delicious quick and easy lunch.
Recipe by: Veronica
Lunch, Snack
South African
Calories 276
Prep 15 minutes minutes
Cook 30 minutes minutes
Total Time 45 minutes minutes
Servings: 1 10" x 8" tart
Print Pin Comment Bookmark
5 from 2 votes
(Click the stars to rate this recipe)
Equipment
Large saucepan
20cm x 30cm baking dish
Sharp Knife
Chopping Board
Balloon whisk
Ingredients
- 1 qty Shortcrust pastry homemade or shop-bought
- 6 large hard-boiled eggs shelled and sliced
- 6 bockwurst sausages sliced into thin rings
- 1 cup cheddar cheese grated
- 2 ounces / 60 grams butter
- 2 cups milk
- 2 tablespoons cornflour
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 200°C / 400°F
Roll the pastry to ¼" thickness and use to line a greased 30cm x 20cm pie dish.
1 qty Shortcrust pastry
Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the cornflour and stir to remove any lumps
2 ounces / 60 grams butter, 2 tablespoons cornflour
Add the milk, salt and pepper and bring to the boil stirring continuously until the mixture thickens
2 cups milk, Salt and black pepper
Reduce the heat, add ¾ of the cheese. Reserve a little cheese to sprinkle on top. Stir until the cheese has melted.
1 cup cheddar cheese
Remove from the heat. Add the chopped egg and sausages and stir well to combine. Allow to cool.
6 large hard-boiled eggs, 6 bockwurst sausages
Pour the cooled filling into the prepared pastry case
Sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese
Place in the pre-heated oven and bake for 30 minutes until the pastry is golden.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Notes
If you want to make your own pastry you can use the recipe from this bacon and egg pie
The sauce should leave a trail when a spoon is drawn through it. If the sauce does not thicken sufficiently you can mix an additional teaspoon of cornflour with a little milk and drizzle in slowly, mixing all the time, until the desired consistency is reached.
Don't allow it to become too thick - the sauce will thicken further when the cheese is added.
The pastry shell does not need to be pre-baked. The pastry and the filling bake at the same time.
Serve either warm (the filling will be slightly runny), or cold (the filling will be firm).
Calories have been calculated on the assumption that the tart will be cut into 12 servings.
Nutrition
Calories - 276kcal | Carbohydrates - 13.9g | Protein - 11.7g | Fat - 19g | Saturated Fat - 5.8g | Cholesterol - 116mg | Sodium - 492mg | Potassium - 66mg | Fiber - 0.3g | Sugar - 3.2g | Calcium - 143mg | Iron - 1mg
I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.
Unless otherwise stated, a cup is the standard US cup containing 240 ml. In all my recipes this cup is assumed to hold 140g of flour. For help converting other ingredients between cups, grams, ounces and other measures, see my recipe conversion calculator.
All my recipes are developed and tested at sea-level. For tips on adjusting recipes for high altitudes see my post on baking at high altitudes.
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