Tag: vegetarian

Butternut Squash, Blue Cheese and Pear Puff Pastry Tart

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I love puff pastry. The pre-prepared kind, that is. I’ve never attempted to make it myself, and maybe one day I’ll give it a go, but for now, ready-rolled is an absolute lifesaver.

I love the crunch as you bite into it, with little flakes floating down everywhere. It has a lightness that shortcrust lacks, and a delicious butteriness that you don’t get from filo.

Because you don’t need to make the pastry, this tart is so simple to make, and can be served as one large tart, or smaller, individual versions, using exactly the same measurements.

I used the amazing Beauvale blue cheese from Cropwell Bishop Creamery, which is local to me, as it’s incredibly creamy which is ideal for creating the dreamy melted blue cheese topping, rather than an equally as delicious, but not so practical crumbly Stilton.

From the photos, you’ll notice that there are two versions of this tart that I made. The first used all the ingredients, but I wasn’t happy with the base, so decided to remake it, and the second version was spot on. Having said that, I didn’t have enough puff pastry or any pears the second time, hence the smaller tarts and fewer toppings.

You can absolutely get the tart to cook through completely without the bottom being soggy, but don’t be afraid to let the outside edges brown a little more to do so. Baking the pastry blind beforehand will also help to ensure it’s completely cooked through.

I won’t even lie, the first time I made this, I ate the entire tart in one go. I just kept going back for more it was so good, so now, over to you…

Makes 1 large rectangular tart and 4 individual tarts

Ingredients:

½ packet of ready rolled puff pastry

½ butternut squash

salt/pepper

rosemary

1tbsp cornflour

1btsp honey + 1btsp balsamic vinegar (combined)

1 pear

75-100g blue cheese (the creamier the better)

1 egg, beaten

chopped walnuts (optional)

  1. Preheat oven to 180.
  2. Cut squash into thin discs and add to a baking tray with olive oil, salt, pepper and rosemary, and roast until soft. This shouldn’t take long – around 10 mins, depending on your oven.
  3. Unroll the pastry and fold over the edges to create a crust. Bake the puff pastry until puffed up and starting to brown slightly (5-8 mins).
  4. Remove pastry from the oven and flatten out the puffed up centre.
  5. Sprinkle the cornflour over the pastry base so that any excess moisture from the filling will be soaked up.
  6. Layer over the squash, pear and chunks of blue cheese, then brush the edges with egg wash before placing back in the oven to bake until golden and cooked throughout. You will need to monitor the base as this will cook slower than the edges which will brown quickly, so turn the heat down if need be.
  7. After removing from the oven, ensure base is not soggy, top with the chopped walnuts and drizzle with the honey/balsamic vinegar dressing.

I topped the finished tart with my favourite spice mix, which is a Spanish brand, including garlic, onion, thyme, chilli flakes and some other spices in there, but you can top with whatever you enjoy – whether that’s a sprinkle of chilli flakes, a few sprigs of rosemary, a dusting of pepper, or just leave it as is!

Once you’ve baked your first tart, you’ll realise how easy it is to customise and make it your own. There are so many different toppings you could experiment with, from Italian caprese, to goat’s cheese and honey, or a classic cranberry and Brie. So get experimenting, and…

¡Comemos!

xo

Homemade Vegetable Scraps Stock

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This one’s a little bit different, but I’m here to show just how easy it is to make your own stock at home, using up all the leftover bits of your veg that you’d normally throw away.

Why spend money on packets of stock when you can use scraps to make your own that tastes just as good, if not better?

I can’t tell you how much this’ll make, because as per, accuracy is not my thing. Add as much water as you deem necessary to create a concentrated stock, so the more veg scraps you have, the more water.

Ingredients:

Vegetable peel (butternut squash, carrots, parsnips, sweet potato, onion, shallots, leeks etc. Think vegetables that have some kind of sweetness or pungency)

Diced onions and garlic

Salt/pepper

Nutritional yeast

Thyme

Worcestershire sauce

Water

  1. Add oil to your saucepan and sauté the onions on medium heat.
  2. When cooked down and translucent, add the garlic and cook until fragrant.
  3. Chuck in all the vegetable peel, salt/pepper and thyme, and cook for a couple of minutes.
  4. Add in boiling water, Worcestershire sauce and nutritional yeast flakes.
  5. Bring to the boil then turn down to the lowest setting and leave to cook slowly for an hour or so until all the flavours have emerged.
  6. Sieve out all the chunky bits before using in cooking.

I could add a photo of my stock, but to be honest, it was very difficult to photograph in a way that looked appetising. You’ll just have to trust me that when I used it to cook with later in the week, it tasted great, and didn’t have the same overly intense saltiness that I find lots of crumbly stock cubes have.

Super simple, and a satisfying way to make use of your leftovers before binning them. Why not give it a try?

¡Comemos!

xo