Foraging at home and beyond
This was a bit of a triumph and one of my most successful fridge forage sessions. Veg box leftovers (chard, leeks and courgettes in this case), the last of the wild garlic pesto I’d made with some bounty from Hampstead Heath, a bit of somewhat “vintage” cheddar and cream that had been lurking about in the back of the fridge for a while, something to do with an extravagant dessert…
It was also a chance to use up the last of a bag of spelt flour, for a really lovely pastry case, with its gorgeous, slightly nutty flavour.
I used a 22cm tart tin with a removable base.
Get creative – what’s in the fridge?
The vegetable quantities are approximate, so use what you have and make sure you have enough to fill the tin. If you have a little filling left over, make a mini tart, or use the rest for a savoury baked custard.
By the way, completely new ingredients work too!!
Keep the egg whites to make meringues!
Serve with a seasonal salad.
Fridge Forage Tart
Ingredients
- 125g cold unsalted butter
- 125g plain flour, plus extra for rolling
- 125g spelt flour
- Fine sea salt
- 5 medium eggs
- 1 tbsp milk
- 1 leek
- 1-2 cloves garlic
- 1 bunch Swiss chard
- 1-2 courgettes
- 400ml double cream
- 40g hard cheese (eg cheddar, Parmesan)
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Dice the butter.
- Place the flours and a teaspoon of salt in a mixing bowl and mix well.
- Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- Mix one of the eggs with the milk and add to the flour and butter.
- Bring the mixture together to form a dough, wrap in baking parchment and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Dust the work surface with a little flour and roll out the pastry to fit your tart tin - the pastry should be around 3mm thick.
- Place the lined tin back in the fridge for 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180˚C/160°C fan/gas mark 4.
- Prick the base of the pastry with a fork, line with parchment paper, fill with baking beans and blind bake for 20 minutes.
- Beat one of the remaining eggs gently with a fork.
- Remove the parchment and beans - the pastry should look dry, if not return it to the oven for five minutes - brush the pastry with the egg wash, then return to the oven for 10 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.
- Reserve the remaining egg wash for the tart filling.
- Turn the oven down to 170°C/150°C fan/gas mark 3.
- Trim the ends off the chard stems, then cut the stems into 2-3cm pieces and roughly chop the leaves.
- Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil.
- Add the stalks first, bring the water back to the boil and cook for 1-2 minutes then add the leaves and boil for another 1-2 minutes, until the stalks and leaves are tender.
- Trim the leeks and finely chop.
- Peel the garlic and finely chop.
- Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan, add the leeks and garlic and sauté for about five minutes.
- Trim and roughly dice the courgettes.
- Add to the leeks and garlic, sauté for another five minutes, until the courgettes begin to soften and turn golden.
- Spread the vegetables into the pastry case.
- In a large jug, beat the cream, the remaining egg from the egg wash, the egg yolks, the cheese, reserving a little cheese to sprinkle over the tart.
- Season well then pour into the tart case and scatter over the remaining cheese over the top.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until just set but with a slight wobble in the centre.
- Leave to cool for 10-15 minutes.
was a bit of a triumph and one of my most successful fridge forage sessions.
Veg box leftovers (chard, leeks and courgettes in this case), the last of some wild garlic pesto I’d made with some bounty from Hampstead Heath, a bit of somewhat “vintage” cheddar and some cream that had been lurking about in the back of the fridge for a while…
Completely fresh ingredients work too!!
It was also a chance to use up the last of a bag of spelt flour, for a really lovely pastry case.
I used a 24cm tart tin with a removable base. The vegetable quantities are approximate – use what you have and make sure you have enough to fill the tin.
Keep the egg whites to make meringues!
