The elegant abalone
Tusmore cafe and catering venue Rustic Gourmet share this delicious recipe for a savoury tart filled to the brim with local produce from Rohde's, Beerenberg Farm, Udder Delights, Tweedvale, Maggie Beer and Bird in Hand.
Ingredients
Short crust pastry
- 250g Laucke plain flour
- 125g chilled unsalted butter, diced
- 2 Rohde’s free range egg yolks
Filling
- 2 vine ripened tomatoes
- Maggie Beer vino cotto
- Bird in Hand olive oil
- ¼ piece Jap pumpkin
- Beerenberg caramelised onion
- Fresh thyme
- 100g Udder Delights goat curd
- 6 Rohde’s free range egg yolks
- 300ml Tweedvale cream
- Freshly grated nutmeg
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
For the pastry, put the flour, butter and salt in a food processor and whiz until it resembles bread crumbs.
Mix 2 egg yolks and three tablespoons of chilled water together in a jug and pour this gradually into processor with the motor running. Continue processing until the pastry comes together.
Transfer the pastry to a lightly floured work surface and form into a flattened ball, cover with glad wrap and chill for at least 30 mins.
Roll out the pastry. Grease your tart shells and line with the pastry, pricking all over with a fork. Chill again for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees and blind bake the tart shells for 10 minutes. Remove your pastry weights, turn the trays and bake for a further 10 minutes.
For the filling, cut the tomatoes into wedges, season and drizzle with olive oil and vino cotto and roast for approximately 20-30 minutes or until lightly caramelised.
Cut pumpkin into cubes, season and drizzle with olive oil. Roast for approximately 30 minutes or until lightly caramelised.
To assemble the tarts, add a thin layer of caramelised onion on the bottom of the baked tart shell and top generously with roasted pumpkin. Top with a small dollop of goat curd, sprinkle with a few thyme leaves and top with the roasted tomatoes.
Mix the remaining egg yolks with the cream and nutmeg. Season to taste. Pour the mixture slowly into the tart cases until full, being careful not let them overflow.
Bake for approximately 50 minutes at 160C or until golden, turning trays half way through cooking. Transfer to a wire rack and remove from baking trays to cool. Serve at room temperature.
