This is such an excellent dish. It’s not too different from making a quiche. What makes it special is the sweet-sour roasted garlic and whatever combination of cheese you choose. My recipe is adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipe in “Plenty“. I’ve added the greens (and changed the cheeses a little). Yotam is my ‘go to’ chef at the moment. Maggie Beer’s website is here. She is extraordinary and her website and cookbooks are excellent. Maggie was behind me on the queue for a flight once, and I wanted to turn around and say “your pastry recipe has changed my life” but that just sounded a bit, you know, fannish… Anyway, here’s the recipe.
Roast Garlic and Cheese Tart
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: European
Ingredients
- 125 ml Sour Cream
- 250 g Plain Flour (sifted)
- 200 g Butter (unsalted) (chilled)
- 1 Leek (sliced)
- 250 g Chard and Kale (chopped)
- 1 head Garlic
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
- 1-2 tbsp. Vino Cotto
- ¾ tbsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Rosemary (chopped)
- 1 tsp Thyme (chopped)
- 120 g Goat's cheee
- 60 g Feta cheese
- 60 g Vintage cheddar cheese
- 2 Eggs
- 1 cup Cream (thickened)
Instructions
- Make a batch of Maggie Beer's sour cream pastry. This is amazing stuff that I use all the time. Pulse 250g and 200g cubed, cold butter in a food processor for 30 seconds or until just combined. Add 125ml sour cream and pulse again until it just combines and forms a ball. Remove from processor and pat into a solid ball. Cover in cling wrap and refrigerate until needed.
- Boil kale and chard with some salt in water for a couple of minutes. Drain, cool and squeeze out liquid. Saute sliced leek in butter gently for about 10 minutes. Chop greens and mix together.
- Peel the cloves from 1 head of garlic. Blanch in boiling water for 2 mins. Then cook in 1 tbsp olive oil on high heat for 2 mins. Stir during cooking to make sure that the garlic browns but doesn't burn. Add ½ tsp good balsamic vinegar and ½ cup water, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 10 mins. Add 2 tsp sugar, ½ tsp chopped rosemary and ½ tsp chopped thyme leaves and a pinch of sea salt. Simmer on medium heat for 10 mins. Add a good splash of vino cotto half way through. At the end you want the garlic to be coated with sticky balsamic syrup.
- Roll out the dough into the pie base and refrigerate until needed. Prick holes in the bottom of the pie with a fork. Whisk together eggs and cream. Season with cracked black pepper and sea salt. Place the greens in the bottom of the pie base. Crumble cheeses in clumps unevenly across the base. Place garlic cloves at intervals across the tart at various angles. Gently pour egg and cream mixture into tart, filling gaps but leaving some of the garlic and cheese uncovered. Bake at 160C for 35 to 40 minutes.
Leave a Reply