I should apologise to you my readers. I know you must be tired of reading about weather. I don't want to mention London weather in every post, but local weather is truly crazy! Do you remember the beautiful blue sky in one of the pictures from a last week's post? I think it was the hottest day of this year. Unfortunately, that is no longer true. This week, we were thinking about turning the heating on again!
I will keep this post short because my hands and fingers are numb (we didn't turn the heating on) and I have probably pinched a nerve in my back which makes sitting at the computer quite painful.
I really enjoyed a Sunday photo walk in spite of the horrible weather. P. has bought an old fashioned film camera and we set out to give it a first try. I'm quite curious how the photos will turn out. Cold and dreary weather was, however quite pleasing in the end, because it produced lovely soft lighting, offering good photography conditions. I went with my digital camera so I can share some pictures with you instead of long writing.
But let's get back to the tart. I really like savoury tarts. Not only they are quite easy to make, but I also love their endless versatility. I usually use ready-made puff pastry (like in this recipe), because it makes the process even easier. However, I wanted to push myself a bit further this time.
Then I found Aran's recipe for a savoury tart, and decision was made. The addition of thyme and rosemary in the pastry sounded very promising. I slightly altered the recipe and ended up with a gluten-free version because I ran out of plain flour and was too lazy to bother getting dressed and go shopping. And only flour I had at home was gluten and wheat free plain white flour blend. I already mentioned this flour in my gluten-free cookies post.
You will have some leftover dough scraps from the tart. Use them to make crackers. They go wonderfully with a soup. I left the dough in the fridge for two days and the cracker turned out perfectly. I made two batches and I left the second batch too long in the oven, so they were a bit darker. They tasted great with a homemade roasted tomato soup, though.
Sprouting broccoli, kale and cauliflower tart
400g gluten and wheat free plain white flour blend
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp fresh thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
200g butter, cut into cubes and chilled
8tbsp cold water
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large yellow onion, halved and sliced
1/2 head of cauliflower, broken into small pieces
5 stems purple sprouting broccoli, stems removed and chopped
2 cups chopped kale
1tsp freshly ground black pepper
1tsp salt
1/2 cup double cream
1 cup milk
3 eggs
200g cheddar cheese, grated
1. In a large bowl combine flour, salt, thyme, rosemary and black pepper. Using a fork mash the butter into the flour until crumbly.
2. Stir in the cold water and bring the pastry together into a ball. Shape the dough into a flat square, wrap it in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for 2 hours.
3. Turn out the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap and roll to about 0.4cm thick. Lift still on the wrap and place in a tart pan. Press sides gently in and remove any dough that hangs over the edge of the tart pan. With the plastic wrap still on chill it for another 1 hour.
4. Use the scraps to make crackers. Press all of the dough scraps together gently, do not overwork them with kneading. If you want to make crackers right away, roll the dough to 0.5-0.7cm thick and cut squares. Place them on a lined baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Before baking sprinkle the crackers with freshly grated black pepper, coarse grained salt or some cheese. Bake for 12-15 minutes at 180C.
5. In a pan heat the olive oil and saute the onion for 5 minutes. Add the kale, broccoli and cauliflower and saute for another 5 minutes. Let it cool a bit. In the meantime, whisk the eggs, milk, double cream, thyme, salt and pepper in a bowl.
6. Take the tart pan out of the fridge and spread the vegetable over the crust. Sprinkle with the grated cheese and pour the egg mixture on top.
7. Bake at 200C for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 180C and bake for another 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden.
