There is your everyday cooking and then there is this. The kind where you want to make something special or try something completely different. One of those ‘outside the box’ recipes.
So go ahead and bookmark this one. Even if you have no intentions of ever making it. Because there is a good chance that you will actually come back to this. Like say when you are planning a brunch. For a special occasion or people. I say special because you don’t want to be making a tart crust, cutting the vegetables into juliennes and painstakingly arranging them for just anyone!
Okay, so that was my sneaky way of saying that this recipe takes some time and requires a little patience but the end result will be so worth it! It is not rocket science nor does it have a delicate phase change point where you are staring at a masterpiece one moment and a disaster the next.
You can take this dish places; literally and figuratively. Because it transports well and in terms of experimenting, you can flavor it with any continent you fancy. Za’atar and you have Arabic/Mediterranean, Mustard and Thyme and you have Provencale….. you can really run with this!
Vegetable Spiral Tart
Adapted from this recipe
A food processor and a good mandolin or vegetable slicer makes this a breeze. You can also substitute with vegetables like sweet potato, parsnip, bell peppers etc. For the root vegetables, it will help to microwave them whole after peeling for a minute or two to soften them before slicing.
Crust
This video has really nice instructions.
2 cups all purpose flour (I used half whole wheat and half all purpose)
4-5 carrots, medium size (used the thickest ones you can find), peeled
1 cup soft cheese (like cream cheese or boursin or chevre…..your choice!)
1 cup fresh mozarella, grated
2 tsp za’atar (or any spice combination of your choice)
1/8 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste12-13 inch tart or springform pan, ungreased (You can use a regular pan lined with parchment paper but make sure there is an overhang of paper to pull the tart off easily from the pan).
For the crust, put the flour and salt in the food processor and pulse a couple of times.
Chop the butter into 1/2 tbs size pieces and add to food processor. Pulse in short bursts until it starts to look like large breadcrumbs (you should still have pea sized chunks of butter). It will look crumbly but should hold together when you make a lump with your fist.
Transfer to a large sheet of cling wrap and pat into a disk. Keep in fridge for an hour or overnight.
Transfer the disk onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 15-16 inch circle.
Gently transfer circle onto ungreased tart or springform pan, prick with a fork and transfer back into fridge.
For filling, Mix the cheeses, salt, sun dried tomatoes, za’atar and some salt and pepper.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Cut the vegetables into long strips, season lightly with salt and pepper and keep aside. Keeping them in separate piles makes it easy while arranging.
Spread the bottom of unbaked tart with the cheese mixture.
Start arranging the vegetables in a spiral, starting from the outside and making your way towards the center. Make sure you overlap them a bit.
Brush with olive oil, sprinkle some more salt and pepper and then the dry spices.
Bake at 375 degrees F for an hour. If the top is getting too dark, cover with foil.
Let it cool before cutting into wedges with a sharp knife.
