Homemade Tart "Vegetable Delight"
Mr.Boyfriend and I decided a while ago that we want to try and reduce the amount of meat we're eating. As much as it came as a surprise to our friends and family, we've been talking about it for a while and it felt natural to do so. We are not vegetarians, but we are definitely more conscious about the food we put in our bodies and we try to eat more vegetables than before. If possible, our meals will be more or less just vegetables, and a diverse range of them as well.
The idea of vegetable tart has been on my mind for a long time. Maybe 7-8 weeks now. For me to have a food on my mind for so long and not doing anything about it, it's bravery! I'm the type of person who's completely obsessed with their cravings and goes to the extreme to satisfy them. However, this tart was more than just eating vegetables on a shortcrust pastry. I wanted to make it from scratch, all by myself. I wanted to create, to be able to let my imagination go wild and make the tart of my dreams. I wanted to craft it and for that I needed time and the right ingredients, both of which I've been lacking lately. But not today, my friends, not today! This morning I woke up, had breakfast and then went on straight away to make my gorgeous tart! It's been delightful and I loved every second of the time I spent preparing it. This is how I like to feel when I'm in the kitchen - inspired, empowered and immortal. This is how food should make us all feel!
Ingredients:
For the pastry base:
- 200g flour
- 100g butter
- 2 tbsp water
- pinch of salt
- pinch of savory and cumin (or any other herb you'd like your pastry to smell of)
For the filling:
- 1 aubergine, sliced to disks
- 2 medium tomatoes, sliced to disks
- 2 red peppers. sliced
- 150g spinach
- 3 tbsp good quality tomato puree
- 3-4 medium mushrooms, sliced
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3 eggs
- 1 cube vegetable stock
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
How To:
Pastry:
- In a big bowl place the flour and the butter.
- Rub the butter between your fingers until the mixture resembles crumbs
- Stir in the water, the salt and the herbs, it should start resembling a very hard dough
- Knead briefly until it looks and feels like dough, then cover in clean film and let rest in the fridge until the filling is prepared.
Filling:
- Preheat the oven at 180 degrees.
- Line baking tray with baking sheet and arrange the sliced aubergines, tomatoes and red peppers on top of it.
- Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake until the vegetables are soft and tender.
- While the aubergines, tomatoes and peppers are in the oven, bring a pot of salted water to boil.
- Put the spinach in the boiling water, stir well and remove from the pan. Wash with cold water straight away and set aside to drain.
- Once the vegetables seem cooked, take them out of the oven and let them cool down slightly.
Assembling the tart:
- Flour a clean, flat surface and roll the chilled dough so it will cover the bottom of your preferred tart tray.
- Line the tray with baking paper and arrange the base on top of it. Make sure that your pastry base is covering the whole pan.
- Put in the oven for 10-15 minutes and keep a close eye on it, as you want it to get only slightly golden.
- Once the tart is golden, take it out of the oven, but do not turn off the oven.
- On the very bottom of the tart spread the tomato puree. Over the puree add the spinach. Make sure that the spinach is equally spread.
- On top of the spinach arrange the baked vegetables and the fresh mushrooms.
- Put in the oven for 5-10 minutes, until the mushrooms start to look soft and cooked.
- In a bowl mix together the eggs, milk and stock cube.
- Pour the milk with eggs over the vegetables and bake until set.
- Sever warm. Goes best with a nice glass of white wine.
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| Made from scratch vegetable tart |
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