Squash and goat's cheese tart
Sweetness of squash, strong cheese and slightly bitter cavolo nero come together beautifully in a full and complimentary mixture of tastes.
Easy to make at the last minute and delicious straight from the oven or eaten hot or cold the next day. Really good with a salad or you can cut it up into bite size pieces and serve cold at a party.
Ingredients
· a pack of shop bought puff pastry
· 1 onion
· half a squash, cut into cubes
· 1 clove garlic, chopped into small pieces
· cavolo nero
· goat’s cheese
· mozzarella (optional)
Steps
Cook the squash
Chop the onions into fine slices. Heat a little olive oil in a pan and cook the onions for a minute until they are soft. Add the cubes of squash and stir to flavour them slightly. Add half a glass of water and cover the pan. Cook until the squash is soft and the water has been absorbed.
Cook the cavolo nero
Prepare the cavolo nero by pulling the green leaf off the hard stalk (pinch the end of the stalk with one hand and slide the other hand down the stalk to detach the leafy part). Chop any big leaves into smaller pieces.
Heat a little oil in a frying pan and add the garlic for a minute or so. Do not allow the garlic to turn brown as this gives it a very particular (and strong) flavour. Add the cavolo nero leaves and stir it around to flavour it and wilt it. Add a little bit of water to help it to wilt and cook for a few minutes to wilt completely.
Prepare the tart
Put the puff pastry onto a baking tray with baking paper. Spread the squash and onions all over the pastry leaving an inch at the edges that you will fold over to make the side of the tart. Distribute the cavolo nero around the pastry over the squash and do the same with slices of goats cheese. If you want, you can add some mozzarella cheese to fill any gaps and to give it an extra juicy dimension but this is not vital and don’t over do it.
Bake in the oven
Scrunch the sides of the pastry to make a little wall around the edge of the mixture. Brush with milk so that it doesn’t burn. Put the tart into the preheated oven for about half an hour until the pastry is golden brown.
