June 2023 - Leann’s Spring Vegetable Tart

Serves 4 / Dairy / Citrus / Eggs / Gluten

Ingredients

From Hoole Food Market:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

250g Wholemeal Flour

1 Large Sweet Potato

2 Large Courgette (I used locally grown heritage courgette for colour but green will be delicious too)

1 Large Aubergine or 2 Small

A Small Bunch of Thyme

1 Lemon

3 Eggs

900ml Water

Salt

Black Pepper

From Deli Vert or elsewhere:

150g Butter, diced

125g Gruyère Cheese, grated - split into 100g and 25g

From elsewhere:

250g Mascarpone Cheese

Equipment:

Large bowl to mix dough in

Smaller bowl to mix the filling in

A sharp knife or mandolin

Rolling Pin

1 - 2 clean tea towels

1 pastry case lined with grease proof paper

1 fork

1 knife - can just be a dinner knife for mixing the dough

1 deep pan to boil water in

Method

1. Pre-Heat the oven to 180°C

2. Firstly make your pastry dough. In a large bowl mix together the butter and flour, rubbing together with your finger tips until the mixture resemble breadcrumbs. Stir in 25g of the Gruyère cheese using a knife. Add 1 egg and stir in with the knife. Once the dough begins to clump, tip it out onto a floured work surface and knead into a smooth ball. Wrap in oiled cling film and leave to chill in the fridge until you need it - at least 20 minutes.

3. Prepare the sweet potato, peel and slice into as thin slices lengthways as possible. I used a knife but if you have a mandolin this would be perfect.

4. Prepare the aubergine and courgette by trimming the ends off and slicing lengthways into ribbons. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze onto the aubergine strips. This will prevent them discolouring too much but will also add delicious flavour to the tart.

5. Once all of the veg is sliced, put the water on to boil. Once boiled turn down to a simmer. Lay out a tea towel ready to drain the veg onto.

6. Once the water is simmering add the sweet potato and leave for just 2 minutes. This will soften it but not cook it through entirely. Take the sweet potato slices out of the water using a slotted spoon and put onto the tea towel to drain, cool and dry.

7. Take the water off the heat but now add in the courgette and aubergine. Again, this isn’t to cook them but just to soften them. Leave in the water for 1 minute then remove from the water using a slotted spoon and pop these on the tea towel to drain too. You may need 2 towels as once the the slices of potato and veg are laid out they can cover a lot of space.

8. Season and dress all of the veg slices with a drizzle of olive oil and salt. Leave to cool.

9. Whilst the veg is cooling remove the pastry from the fridge. Roll the pastry out until it is evenly around 3-5mm thick. In a lined pastry dish lay the pastry into the dish, prick with a fork and bake for 10 minutes in the oven.

10. Whilst the pastry is baking make the binding filling for the tart by mixing the mascarpone, 2 eggs and 100g Gruyère cheese in a bowl until smooth. Pick the thyme and reserving a small amount for later, add into the mascarpone mixture along with a good few pinches of salt. Mix well.

11. Remove the pastry case from the oven and let cool for a few minutes. Once cooled pour the mascarpone mixture into the pastry case and smooth to cover the base of the pastry case.

12. Stack a slice of sweet potato, aubergine and courgette and roll into spiral and place in the centre of the pastry case on top of the mascarpone filling. Continue adding the slices around the spiral until the case is filled with a spiral effect. Doing worry if its not too uniform, the finished effect will be colourful and beautiful.

13. Place the tart into the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes.

14. Once baked remove from the oven, sprinkle on the remaining thyme leaves and leave to cool. I served this cold, almost like quiche with a rocket salad and a drizzle of olive oil over the tart. Delicious!