Thursday 2 August 2012

Three-Cheese Tart








Clint and I have been taking part in the Dry July campaign - no alcohol for the whole of July to raise money for a great cause. We are not big drinkers (we'd rather eat, than drink), but we do enjoy a glass of wine with our evening meal.  So, it would be fair to say that we have noticed our self-imposed abstinence on the odd occasion... like dinner time. It's August and it's over. To celebrate mark the return to normality the luxury of having a glass of wine with our food, I wanted to make something that would be perfect to have with a big lovely glass of chilled white wine, hence the Three-Cheese Tart. Three very different cheeses tumbled together with eggs and cream and cooked in one golden tart shell... Sounds like heaven doesn't it? Make it, cut yourself a slice, serve it with a green salad, pour yourself a glass of crisp white wine and you're there... I'll drink to that.


Three-Cheese Tart
from Delicious

For the Filling:
200g feta, crumbled
250g fresh ricotta
90g grated gruyere
2 eggs, lightly beaten, plus 2 extra egg yolk for brushing on the pastry
60ml thickened cream
pinch freshly grated nutmeg
2 rosemary sprigs, leaves finely chopped

For the Rough Puff Pastry:
200g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
200g chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Make the Rough Puff Pastry:
Place the flour and butter in a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles course breadcrumbs. Add 1-3 tablespoons of cold water and process briefly just until the mixture starts to form a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a 30cm x 15cm rectangle. Starting from one of the shorter sides, fold the dough onto itself into thirds (as if you were folding a letter). Turn the dough 90 degrees and roll it out again to a 30cm x 15cm rectangle, fold again  - this is known as the book-fold technique.Wrap it and chill it in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes.

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll it out to a 35cm round. transfer to a lightly floured baking tray and set aside.

Make the Filling:
Place the feta, ricotta, gruyere, beaten egg, cream, nutmeg, a pinch of sea salt and some freshly ground black pepper in a bowl and mix to combine.

To Assemble:
Spread the cheese mixrure on the dough, leaving a 5cm border. Lift the dough border over the filling to create a side crust and crimp the edges to keep it in place. Sprinkle the rosemary over the filling. Lightly beat the egg yolk and use it to brush the dough. Chill for 15-20 minutes to firm up.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.


Bake for 25 minutes, then reduce the oven to 180 degrees C and cook for a further 10-15 minutes until the filling is set and the pastry it golden.

2 comments:

  1. misslynn@alaska.net3 August 2012 at 08:00

    I would like to try this, it sounds wonderful.

    Could you please tell me what thickened cream is. Is it the same as heavy whipping cream?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks misslynn.

    Thickened cream is cream which has 35% milk fat. You could use heavy cream :)

    ReplyDelete