Spring Vegetable and Herb Tart

Serves 6

Here is another recipe inspired by Nigel Slater - he makes everything sound so tempting and wonderful, you simply have to try it.  However, I have made some adjustments from the original to suit what I had in my larder and our personal preferences.

Asparagus is a short season of only eight weeks ending 21st June and so you can substitute with green beans lightly boiled.    I like to use edame beans instead of broad beans sometimes - but you can choose whatever vegetables you like and which are in season.

I used my Olive Oil pastry recipe, which was perfect but, of course, you can take the easier option and simply use ready made puff pastry.   My olive oil pastry was wonderfully crispy and crunchy and will definitely choose this one again for this dish.   The filling gives a vibrant and tangy taste to the veg.

You can use as the filling any combination of thick cream cheese or a mixture of that and goat's cheese or ricotta.   I had Philadephia in my fridge so I just used that.

Ingredients

Pack of puff pastry (you can brush this with a little beaten egg)

 - I used one of my vegan recipes instead

Olive Oil Savoury Pastry - follow this link

• One bunch of asparagus (500g) - cut into three with ends trimmed (or use bunch of green beans)
  
• 100g broad beans (I used frozen) if fresh, then they need to be cooked briefly (or frozen edame beans)
  
• 100g peas (I used frozen) if fresh, these can be enjoyed raw
  
• One bunch of  Spring onions, washed, trimmed and cut diagonally
  
• A few sprigs fresh Basil, cut into shreds (or mixed dried herbs)
  
• 9g Dill (optional) chopped
  
• Half a cup Cornichons (I used three large Gherkins, and sliced thinly)
  
• Two heaped tablespoons capers
  
• 200g cherry tomatoes, halved (I used a small bowl of cherry tomatoes picked straight from my greenhouse)
• One tub of Philadelphia Cream Cheese, or a mild soft goats cheese, or ricotta

Separate Salad to serve

Pack of baby mixed leaves

Half a cucumber,

8 - 10 radishes, washed and thinly sliced

Pack of cherry tomatoes, washed and quartered

Just arrange this salad as shown in the image above and serve with french dressing, as below.  It is often a nice touch to add fresh mix of herbs from the garden if you are making this in the Summer.

French dressing for the salad

Olive Oil

Red Wine Vinegar

Salt

Black Pepper

Runny Honey

Dried Herbs

Dijon Mustard

2 cloves garlic, minced (optional)

Pour olive oil half up a jam jar or small bottle and add some red wine vinegar, about half the amount of oil.

Add half a teaspoon salt,  some good twists of black pepper and a couple of tablespoons of runny honey.

Now add half a teaspoon of mixed dried herbs, a generous teaspoon of Dijon mustard and as an optional extra - two minced cloves of garlic.    Put the lid on and give a very good shake and leave to stand for as long as possible and store in the fridge if there is any left over.   Do taste the dressing at this point and adjust according to taste if necessary.

Give another good shake immediately before serving.

AND THIS IS WHAT YOU DO.....

1. Make the pastry as according to instructions and allow the blind pastry case to cool before assembling the ingredients.
   
   
2. Meantime, take a large pan and melt a knob of butter together with a little olive oil and gentle sauté the spring onions, adding the frozen peas and beans, stir together and cover with a lid and leave for just five minutes to gentle cook together until the legumes have completely thawed.   Take off the heat and remove the lid.
   
   
3. In another pan of salted boiling water, toss in the asparagus, trimmed and the spears cut into three (alternatively steam these for 5-6 mins) but do not over cook, so pierce with a sharp knife.   Drain and plunge into iced water with ice cubes to stop the cooking process immediately, the asparagus should still have a slight crunch.
   
   
4. If using fresh broad beans, these need to be hulled and can also be freed from their outer skins and should be cooked in boiling water for 4-5 mins and then drained and set aside.  Alternatively....
   
   
5. I cooked a bunch of fresh green beans in salted, boiling water and added a cup each of frozen peas and edame beans for a further couple of minutes until defrosted and peas starting to dimple - strain into a colander and leave to cool.
   
   
6. To make the base: take a large mixing bowl and put  the cream cheese and beat to make smooth. (or cream and goat's cheese, or whichever combination you choose).
   
   
7. Add to the cream cheese, the capers,  finely sliced cornichons, shredded Basil leaves and chopped Dill.  You can also add a little seasoning at this stage, but do not add too much as the flavours are quite prominent from the mix.   If fresh herbs are not available, you can used mixed dried herbs.
   
   
8. Set this aside and cover the pastry base when cool enough - you will want to assemble this as soon as possible to retain the crispness of the pastry.
   
   
9. Serve with a fresh dressed salad and baby new salad potatoes tossed with butter and parsley.