Carrot, goats cheese and mint tart
Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
5 large carrots, peeled
4-5 sprigs fresh Thyme, leaves picked
Salt & black pepper
2 Tbls. EVOO
1 Tbls. Lemon juice
¼ cup ricotta
6 squares Meredith Dairy goats cheese in oil
2 Tbls. chopped parsley
1 clove garlic, peeled and grated on a microplane
1 sheet Careme all butter puff pastry, thawed
Egg wash:
1 egg + 1 tsp. water
Mint & preserved lemon salsa verde:
1/4 cup lightly packed chopped mint
1/4 cup lightly packed chopped parsley
2 Tbls. oil from the marinated goats cheese or olive oil
1 tsp. chopped preserved lemon
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
To finish:
Hot honey or regular honey for drizzling
Method:
Preheat your oven to 220C conventional (200C fan-forced).
Grate your carrots on the large holes of a box grater and place into a bowl and toss with a sprinkle of salt, black pepper, the thyme and olive oil. Allow that to sit while you gather up the remaining ingredients.
In a small bowl combine the ricotta and goats cheese, lemon juice, garlic and chopped parsley and season with salt and black pepper.
Unroll your pastry sheet onto a piece of baking paper and place on a large baking sheet. Leaving an edge of about 2cm, score the pastry, not cutting all the way through to create a crust or an edge on the pastry.
Spread the ricotta & goats cheese mixture inside that scored rectangle and try to spread it out to cover the entire base of the pastry (but not the border). Squeeze any water out of the carrots and then sprinkle them on top of the cheese mixture. Spread it out evenly, again distributing it evenly covering the cheese. Brush the exposed edge of the pastry with egg wash.
Bake in the oven at 220C conventional (200C fan-forced) for 10 minutes to allow the pastry to puff and then reduce the temperature to 180C conventional (160C fan-forced) for another 40-45 minutes until the edges of the pastry are deeply golden and the carrot is beginning to brown.
In a small bowl, combine all the elements of the salsa verde and season to taste. Sprinkle this onto the warm tart and finally garnish with a drizzle of hot honey or regular honey. Slice and serve.
Note: This would be delicious with a simple green leaf salad.