Spring Vegetable Tart
By Jill Holden, Sundance Garden
Spring 2022
The Texas Veggies recipe series features Texas grown vegetables and ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
- 3 carrots
- 3 radishes
- 9 asparagus (thin spears are best for this recipe)
- 2 green onions
- 1.5 tblsp. olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- bacon, 2 slices
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 egg
- 1 cup hard cheese, grated and divided (we like sharp cheese for this recipe)
- 2 tblsp. all purpose flour
Steps: Veggie Prep
1.
Discard radish tops and bottoms. Cut radish into thin slices.
2.
Discard onion roots while preserving the white of the onion. Slice along the length of the white of the onion then coarsely chop the whole onion, including green leaves.
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3.
Remove carrot tops. Slice carrots into thin ribbons using a vegetable peeler. Tip: When cooking with carrots from the market there’s no need to peel them because they’ve just been picked and their skin is tender and tasty.
4.
Coat carrots and radishes with olive oil. Set aside.
Steps: Pastry Prep
1.
Preheat oven at 400 degrees. Clean a large workspace and wipe completely dry. Dust the work surface and a rolling pin with flour.
2.
Place a thawed sheet of puff pastry on the flour dusted workspace and lightly dust the top side of the pastry dough with flour. Roll the pastry dough evenly to about 1/8 of an inch thick.
3.
Line a cookie sheet with a piece of parchment paper. Carefully lift the pastry dough onto the cookie sheet. Score the dough about 3/4- 1 inch inside the outer edges. Use a fork to prick the pastry dough. Pricking the dough allows the steam to escape so that the tart crust doesn’t puff up in the oven.
4.
In a small bowl, whisk one egg until combined. Brush the egg wash onto the dough between the outer edges and the score lines. Set remainder of the egg aside to be used in the filling.
Steps: Filling Prep
1.
To make the sour cream filling: combine the remainder of the beaten egg with salt and pepper, chopped green onion, sour cream, and half of the grated cheese. Set aside remaining grated cheese. Stir filling until well combined and set aside.
2.
Stack two pieces of bacon and cut in half. Stack the halves and slice down the length, evenly. Chop bacon into half inch pieces. Place cut bacon in a frying pan.
3.
Partially cook the bacon over medium heat, only until it begins to brown. Remove from heat and set aside.
Steps: Assembly
1.
Drop big dollops of the sour cream filling onto the center of the puff pastry dough. Spread evenly, trying to keep the mix inside the score lines.
2.
Place asparagus spears evenly across the top of the filling.
3.
Place all carrot ribbons on top of the asparagus spears. Drop radish slices on top of the carrots.
4.
Sprinkle the entire tart with shredded cheese, including on the egg-washed edges.
5.
Sprinkle the partially cooked bacon bits all over the tart. Be careful to leave the bacon grease in the pan. Add desired amount of salt and pepper.
Steps: Bake and Serve
Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes, until the crust is golden. Slide the parchment paper and tart to a cutting board to cool. Slice the tart into generous pieces. We like to place the cutting board on the dining table so guests can choose their slice.
