Ottolenghi's very full tart is a true labor of love and sure to be the star dish on any weekend lunch or dinner. The first time I made it myself I couldn't find shortcrust pastry in any shop and so I learned how to make it myself. This was the first time I had tried to make a pastry and it went quite well and since then this tart has held a special place in my heart. The original tart has aubergine, sweet potato and feta which I swapped out for rosemary roasted butternut and goats cheese.
If you manage to find premade pastry its much less taxing but still takes a few hours to do well but its definitely time well spent.
Time: 2h30
Serves: 6-8
Difficulty: Moderate with store-bought pastry
Ingredients
300g Shortcrust Pastry
250g Butternut
1 Red Pepper
1 Yellow Pepper
1 Courgette
2 Onions
2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
8 Rosa Tomatoes
1 Small Aubergine
100g Goats Cheese
150g Ricotta
2 eggs
150ml Double Cream
4 Garlic cloves
4 Rosemary Sprigs
5 Thyme sprigs
50ml Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Butter
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C. Cut the vegetables into around 4x2cm pieces. Marinate the butternut and peppers in olive oil, garlic, rosemary, salt & pepper and roast for 40 minutes. Marinate the aubergine and courgette in olive oil salt and pepper and roast for 30 minutes. You can roast all the vegetables in the oven at the same time.
While the vegetables are roasting, slice the onions and add to a pan on medium low heat with the olive oil and butter. Slowly caramelise the onions to bring out their sweetness. Once almost ready add balsamic vinegar and keep on low heat until the onions have soaked up most of the vinegar.
For the pastry*, leave out at room temperature to allow to thaw. Fill an uncreased tart in with the pastry; making sure to press all the corners and sides in well and leave some pastry hanging over the side. Fill the tart tin with baking beans on a piece of baking paper and blind bake the base for 30 minutes at 180 C then remove the beans and bake for another 15 minutes before removing and allowing to cool.
Place the caramelised onions at the base of the tart followed by an even arrangement of all the roasted vegetables. Place chunks of goats cheese and ricotta amongst the vegetables. Halve the rosa tomatoes and arrange them face up over the tart.
Whisk together the eggs and cream and pour the mixture into the tart. Deleaf the thyme and sprinkle over the whole tart.
Bake in a 200C oven for 45 minutes
*To make your own shortcrust pastry the ratio of flour to butter is 1:3/4; pulse that together so the butter isn't completely blended but remains in pea shaped sizes. Add 4 Tbsp of ice water and then bring the dough together into a ball. Don't over work it. Wrap in Cling film and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. After resting roll the dough out between two pieces of cling film to about 1cm thickness and proceed as above.
Happy Cooking!
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