Finally... the moment has come where I'm brave enough to upload a savoury recipe. I find it very easy to hide behind cakes and puddings, but I really do love to bake savoury dishes too. This is just one of many and it is packed full of so many flavours. I know that blue cheese scares a lot of people off, but you can substitute it with pretty much any cheese you like, feta would be delicious and would set better than blue cheese when baked as it's much less oily. But I adore blue cheese and couldn't wait to get it into a recipe!
Let me know what you think and if you'd like me to start posting more savoury recipes.
Ingredients
For the pastry
250g plain flour
100g butter (cubed, at room temperature)
Pinch of salt
For the filling
1 red onion (finely slice)
1 tbsp groundnut oil
1 garlic clove (finely chopped)
1 heaped tsp soft light brown sugar
350g sweet potato, diced
65g baby spinach
3 medium eggs
200ml double cream
150g stilton (or your preferred cheese*)
1 tbsp fresh parsley (chopped)
1 tbsp pine nuts
1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
Pinch of salt and pepper
* Feta is a personal favourite of mine and creates a firmer tart.
Method
- Sift the flour into a large bowl, add the butter and rub until combined (it should resemble fine breadcrumbs).
- Add a couple of splashes of water (no more than 3 tbsp), and continue to combine the mix until you have a firm dough. Knead slightly in the bowl then wrap in cling film and cool in the fridge for half an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/400F/Gas 6.
- Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface. Very lightly grease a 23cm tart tin and line with the pastry, roughly chop off any bits hanging over the side, but not too close as the pastry will shrink slightly as it bakes. Push it gently into the groves of the tin (if it has any) to create a lovely crimped shape when it bakes. Prick the pastry a few times with a fork, then place a piece of baking paper over the top and fill with baking beans. *If you don't have baking beans you can use uncooked rice instead.
- Bake the pastry for 15 minutes, then remove the baking beans and bake for a further 5 minutes. *Be careful when removing the baking beans, they will be very hot.
- Whilst the pastry is baking, heat your oil in a large frying pan and add the onion, sugar and garlic. Stir occasionally to stop it sticking, continue to cook until the onion is brown (not burnt to a crisp, like I did on the first attempt…).
- Add the sweet potato and 300ml of water, and continue to cook until the water has all been absorbed/evaporated and the sweet potato is cooked.
- Add the salt and pepper, you can always add more to taste. *I sometimes like to add chilli flakes at this stage, no more than 1/4 tsp.
- Roughly tear up the spinach and add this into the pan, stir over a very low heat until the spinach has wilted.
- Add the salt and pepper, you can always add more to taste. *I sometimes like to add chilli flakes at this stage, no more than 1/4 tsp.
- Roughly tear up the spinach and add this into the pan, stir over a very low heat until the spinach has wilted.
- In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, cream, parsley, and roughly a third of the cheese (it’s easier if you break this into small pieces first).
- Add the mixture from the pan into the pastry base, then top with the remaining cheese, broken up into lumps, and sprinkle over the nuts and seeds. Then pour over the creamy sauce and bake for 30 minutes, or until the egg mixture has set (I like to put the tart tin on top of a baking tray in the oven in case there is any spillage).
- Leave it to cool slightly, so that the blue cheese sets, then enjoy with mixed salad and a big squeeze of balsamic glaze
*You can also make smaller individual tarts with this recipe, just reduce the final baking time by about 5 mins.
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