Description
This Beetroot Tart has a great sweet and savoury taste and makes a fantastic autumn vegetarian lunch or supper. As with all beetroot dishes, it also has an amazing dark carmine-pink colour.
Ingredients
Scale
For the pastry
- 275 g plain flour
- 125 g fat (I use a mix of half butter and half Trex as I think this makes the lightest pastry)
- Salt and pepper
- Several sprigs of fresh thyme (or one teaspoon of dried thyme)
- A little water
For the filling
- 4 medium beetroot
- 25 g butter and 1 teaspoon oil
- 2 onions
- Salt and pepper
- Several sprigs of fresh thyme (or one teaspoon of dried thyme)
- 3 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 150 ml double cream
- Freshly grated nutmeg
Instructions
- Set your oven to 180 C, 350 F or Gas Mark 4.
- Wash your beetroot and loosely wrap each one in kitchen foil. Place the wrapped beetroot on an oven tray. Roast the beetroot in the oven for around 40 minutes until soft. Remove the beetroot from the oven and allow to cool. When they are cool enough to handle, remove the skins using a sharp knife.
- Make the pastry. Put the flour in a bowl. Add the fat and combine – either by “rubbing in” by hand or processing – until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Remove the leaves from your sprigs of fresh thyme and add to the mixture (or add one teaspoon of dried thyme). Season with salt and pepper. Add a little cold water (2-3 tbsp) and shape the mixture into a dough.
- Roll out your pastry and use it to line your quiche or flan dish. Bake for 15 minutes in the oven to allow the pastry to “set”. This will stop the filling making it soggy.
- Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan. Peel and chop the onions, season with salt and pepper and cook gently for around 15 minutes until soft and translucent.
- Remove the leaves from your sprigs of fresh thyme (or one teaspoon of dried thyme) and add to the pan.
- Coarsely grate the roasted, peeled beetroot and add to the pan together with the vinegar and the sugar. Cook the mixture gently for a further 10 minutes.
- Remove the onion and beetroot mixture from the pan and spoon it into your pastry case.
- Beat the eggs and add the cream and grated nutmeg. Pour into the pastry case.
- Place the tart in your oven and bake for 35 minutes.
Notes
This tart can be eaten hot or at room temperature.
You can make this tart with golden beetroot instead of red beetroot or with a mix of both in dramatic contrasting stripes if you wish!
Keywords: beetroot, tart, vegetarian