When in season summer veggies are the best. I try to make as many recipes with all the gorgeous veggies sold by the truckload at the farmers market.
This is one of my favorite ways to eat summer vegetables. Sure its a bit cheesy but it balencess well with strong herbs and layers of veggies. The tart base is light and crumbly that adds a welcome light tenderness to the tart. Its also looks beautiful on a table and surprisingly easier than it looks to put together. Ive added a few images to give you an idea of the sequence on how it comes together. Let me know if you have any question, would love to hear what you think.
GLUTEN FREE TART CRUST:
- 1 egg
- 1 ½ cups almond meal
- 1 cup tapioca flour
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- salt to taste
FOR THE TART FILLING:
- ½ lbs part skim fresh ricotta regular or plant based, I used Kitehill
- 2 medium sized green zucchini
- 2 medium sized yellow zucchini
- 2 medium sized eggplant, I prefer Japanese variety here
- 1 medium red onion
- 1 yellow or white onion finely chopped and sautéed in a little oil till soft but not brown
- 2 eggs
- 3 small cloves garlic, grated
- 30 g about 2 oz, fresh grated parmesan
- ¼ cup capers
- 60 gms about 2 oz, feta or cotija cheese crumbled
- ½ cup mint finely chopped
- ½ cup dill finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- Salt and pepper
- Chilli flakes
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F.
- In a food processor, combine all the ingredients for the tart crust, until it comes together into a dough. Grease your tart tin and press the dough into it until it is nice and snug. Discard any leftover dough. Prick a few fork holes in the base to allow air to escape, and then pop it in the oven for 10 minutes to firm.
- In a bowl, mix the ingredients for the filling; ricotta, sautéed onion, eggs, salt, pepper, grated garlic, chilli, and all the cheeses, stir until all combined. Add the chopped herbs and capers, stir thoroughly.
- Use a mandoline or a sharp knife (be very careful of your fingers – slice the zucchinis, eggplant lengthways into thin slices, then with your knife slice each of those thin slices in half, lengthways (so you have two long slices instead of one. Slice the onion in half circles.
- Once the tart base has baked and cooled, spoon the ricotta mixture into the tart and smooth it over evenly.
- Now for the layering. Take one green zucchini ribbon, and curl it around itself and place it in the middle of the tart, pushing it down into the ricotta base so it sits snugly. Continue to wrap green, yellow zucchini, eggplant, onion around this centre circle, and keep going in concentric circle with different colored veggies till you have completely covered the tart with all the veggie ribbons, pushing the veggies gently so they stay snug. This step is a whole lot easier than it looks and fast.
- Place the tart into the oven, and cook for around 50 minutes to an hour. The veggies might give out water liquid, you can blot it with a clean kitchen paper.
- Gently slice and eat!
- Makes about 8-10 slices.
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