Tarts are among my favorite dishes; every kind of tart, with any kind of stuffing. First of all, its buttery, brittle base is the main reason to favor it. In the stuffing, you can put whatever vegetables, cold cuts or cheese you like, even leftovers from past days. For example, if a portion of yesterday’s salad is left, it becomes a first-class stuffing for our tart. Tomatoes, peppers, feta cheese and olives make for a delicious summer tart.
Also, tarts are ideal to “transform” classic dishes. We can use the filling of a spinach pie or leek pie, or the leftovers of a roast or broiled meat to stuff a tart. Besides, today’s recipe has a distinct air of the classic, beloved briam.
In these cases, only a small “reinforcement” from some cheese that matches the base of the tart (meat, cold cuts or vegetables), is needed to make the tart richer and tastier. And if you make a nice salad on the side, then you’ve got yourself a full meal.
Don’t forget to get some good wine or beer, which are necessary parts of a perfect meal.
INGREDIENTS
For the tart
- 400g all-purpose flour
- 200g cow butter, cold
- 2 small eggs
- a little salt
- olive oil
- 1-2 tablespoons of water
For the stuffing
- 1 small eggplant (in squares)
- 1 courgette (in squares)
- 1 green pepper (in squares)
- 1 red pepper (in squares)
- 1 yellow pepper (in squares)
- 2 medium tomatoes (one chopped for the stuffing, the other sliced for the garnish)
- 2-3 scallions
- 120g goat cheese (main part)
- 120g cream cheese
- 60g grated graviera (or parmesan)
- 200g low fat cream
- 1 egg
- pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
In the blender, pour all the ingredients for the dough and put it to work for 1-2 minutes until you have a thick, elastic dough.
If you don’t have a blender, put all the ingredients in a bowl and make the dough yourself. Allow it to take shape for 20-30 minutes.
Select a tart plate of 28-30 cm diameter, butter it well and spread the dough with your hands as evenly as possible.
Of course, you can also open it with a roller. Do whatever suits you best.
Carve a fork into the dough, then spread a piece of baking paper, and pour on some chick peas, rice or a couple of special baking weights. Bake the tart at 180 degrees for about 12 minutes, remove the weights and baking paper and continue baking for 8-10 more minutes. Remove the tart from the oven and leave it aside.
In a large non-stick pan, pour 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and, when it’s properly warmed up, put in all the vegetables, finely chopped and salted and let them sauté. Be careful not to have too high a temperature because then the veggies will be charred; you want them dry and slightly brown. When they are ready, sprinkle with some pepper and leave them aside.
In a bowl, put in goat cheese, cream cheese, grated graviera, cream, an egg and lots of pepper. Stir well until you have a thick mixture.
Place the tart in front of you and place all the sautéed vegetables on it. Spread them with a spoon to make sure they’re covering every bit of surface on the tart. Then, pour the cheese mix, grate some more cheese over it, add the tomato in slices and bake the tart for about 30 minutes at 180 degrees .
