Food & Drink
Plates with creativity, colour, health and happiness
This tart showcases some fabulous ingredients and looks and tastes good enough to be on the finest restaurant menu, so will definitely enhance any garden party to impress family and friends. Serve with dill pesto and simple steamed vegetables or salad leaves.
Serves 4
Tin size: 35cm length x 13cm width x 2.5cm height – loose bottomed (if not using loose bottomed, please add baking paper to the tin before adding the base to allow for easy removal of the tart after baking).
FOR THE BASE
INGREDIENTS:
- 100g walnuts
- 100g ground almonds
- 150g buckwheat flour
- 100g unsalted butter (or vegan spread)
- 1 tbsp xylitol sugar alternative (available as Total Sweet)
- Pinch salt
- 1 egg beaten (or 2 tbsp ground flax seeds)
METHOD:
Place the walnuts into a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the ground almonds, buckwheat flour, butter (or vegan spread), xylitol and salt. Pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Next, add the beaten egg (or ground flax seeds) and a splash of ice-cold water and pulse a couple of times, just until the mixture comes together. The mixture will still be a little crumbly at this point but turn out the mixture onto a floured surface and knead gently until it comes together a bit more. Then wrap in clingfilm and leave to chill and rest in the fridge for about 30-60mins.
Place the chilled pastry onto a clean board, dusted with flour and use a rolling pin to gently roll out the pastry to a length and width to fit your baking tin, with enough to leave some to go up the sides of the tin. Gently transfer the pastry into the baking tin and use your clean fingers to press into the shape of the tin. Using a fork, prick all over.
Place the tin into the fridge for 30mins to set. This will prevent the pastry from shrinking during cooking.
After chilling, place a sheet of baking paper over the pastry and then add some baking beans or some uncooked, dry rice to weigh the baking paper down. Bake the pastry in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven ready for adding the filling ingredients.
FOR THE FILLING
INGREDIENTS:
- 5 medium sized free-range eggs beaten
- 1 tbsp milk
- 100g smoked salmon
- 1 small courgette cut into ribbons using a peeler
- 4 asparagus tips, washed and halved lengthways
- 50g watercress, remove any thick, tough stems
- 100g feta cheese, crumbled
- Salt & pepper seasoning
METHOD:
Mix the milk into the beaten eggs then pour the mixture into the prepared tart base. Next, take small amounts of the smoked salmon and pinch together, placing the salmon at even intervals within the egg mixture. Then, do the same with the courgette ribbons, asparagus tips and finally the watercress. Crumble the cheese over the dish and season well.
Bake the tart in a preheated oven for 20-25mins. Place a piece of foil over the tart if it begins to brown on top towards the end of the cooking time.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly (or fully depending on choice). Serve with a drizzle of dill pesto and fresh greens.
FOR THE DILL PESTO
INGREDIENTS:
- 30g dill
- 20g fresh basil
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 2 tbsp fresh parmesan cheese, grated
METHOD:
Place all ingredients into food processor, blitz and serve.
