A Not-so-Tart Tart
Ahhhhh (long sigh). This is what I love. I quiet day, the smells of baking through the house. The sound of the washing machine getting the clothing ready for the week. Kids getting ready for bed. And something lovely (hopefully) ready to be eaten when the kids are in bed and Derek and I can have a few quiet moments before the flurry of the week (which reminds me... I have to send out an email pronto!)
I've been eyeing a Rustic Vegetable Tart recipe for a while now but when Sweet Mary posted this gem yesterday I knew I had to give it a go. I've worked with puff pastry before (although, I've never made my own and as long as Tenderflake is out there I don't intend to) so I know that it's easy and yields impressive results.
I'll admit that given the other stuff on my 'to-do' list today I was rushing through this a bit and I would give it more time in future and take a little more care. However, I made sure that I used ingredients that wouldn't need much TLC to taste good.
I think that this little gem would make great appetizers if friends were coming for dinner or you were hosting a party. There are endless possibilities for this recipe. Heck, I might even try a pastry puff pizza - why not. I went a little uptown with this one today and made Smoked Salmon and Goat Cheese the star of this show although there are plenty of grilled veggies to balance out the richness. At the end of the day, Derek and I enjoyed nibbling on this while quietly gearing up for our crazy week ahead.
Wanda's version of the Savoury Tart:
Tart with Goat cheese and Smoked Salmon
1 pkg of puff pastry (I used Tenderflake)
1 sm. pkg of goat cheese
6 or so slices of smoked salmon (I cut each big slice down to small pieces)
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
5 thin slices of Havarti (got some at the market yesterday and I had to sneak it in)
1/2 - 3/4 of a zucchini (depending of the size), sliced on the thin side
1/2 - 3/4 of an eggplant also sliced on the thin side
1/2 an onion, sliced thinly
1 - 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
olive oil and butter as needed
salt and pepper to taste
handful or two of julienned basil leaves (slice them nice and thin) to sprinkle on at the end
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Prepare two cookie sheets (or any flat surface) with a little bit of cornmeal sprinkled so that the pastry doesn't stick.
Heat a large pan (I used a large caste iron frying pan). Once heated, add the olive oil and/or butter (I used a mixture of both - butter tastes really good in this recipe) and add the zucchini and eggplant, lying each flat so that they can grill. Watch closely for when they are ready to turn over.
Once both sides of each veggie slice is grilled well (honestly, if you just sauteed the stuff it would probably work just as well and possibly not be as tedious) remove from the pan and add the onions, add more oil if needed. After a couple of minutes add the garlic. Once limp and looking a little caramelized remove from the pan and take the pan off the heat.
Roll out the puff pastry until it's about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch thick. place on prepared oven sheet. I made two separate tarts (because the pastry was divided in two - no other reason) but you could easily make it into one big tart. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese leaving an edge of about an inch. Add the veggies on top, spreading things out nicely. Add the smoked salmon, spreading the pieces around generously and repeat with the Goat cheese and the Havarti. Finish with salt if needed and the basil sprinkled over the top.
Here you have a choice. You can leave the edges flat as is or fold them up (as I have done in the pictures) to get a bit of a walled edge. Completely depends on how you're feeling that day and makes no difference to the recipe at all! (Nice eh?!)Bake for about 20 min (if it doesn't look done give it a few more minutes but keep an eye on it. Don't despair if it looks like it's getting a big bump in it, that will settle back down once it's out of the oven. Once baked, let it cool slightly before cutting and then dig into this flakey crust and enjoy each morsel!
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About Me
- Wanda Thorne
- St Michael's Choir School is celebrating it's 75th anniversary year of service to St Michael's Cathedral. Part of the school celebration is a trip to Italy where our boys from Grades 5 - 12 will be performing and celebrating Mass. This blog will be chronicling our adventures. Wanda Thorne is the Vocal Coach at St Michael's Choir School. Gerard Lewis is the Grade 7/8 Homeroom teacher at the Choir School.
About Me
- Wanda Thorne
- St Michael's Choir School is celebrating it's 75th anniversary year of service to St Michael's Cathedral. Part of the school celebration is a trip to Italy where our boys from Grades 5 - 12 will be performing and celebrating Mass. This blog will be chronicling our adventures. Wanda Thorne is the Vocal Coach at St Michael's Choir School. Gerard Lewis is the Grade 7/8 Homeroom teacher at the Choir School.
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