Goat Cheese Tart
From Style at Home, April 2009 issue
“Unlike most dishes cooked with cheese, this tart is very light and elegant”, says author Laura Washburn, who trained at the prestigious Paris cooking school École de Cuisine La Varenne. Make a lunch of it with a simple green salad. “Alternatively, prepare individual tarts for a picnic, buffet or dinner party”, says Laura. “I recommend serving with a white wine from the Loire. Makes 4-6 servings.”
Tart Crust (or use a pre-made, frozen pie crust)
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
7 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
pinch salt
3-4 tbsp cold water
Goat cheese filling
3 large eggs
1 cup sour cream or crème fraiche
large pinch fine sea salt
9 oz goat cheese (1 log or three 3-oz logs)
2 oz finely grated Gruyere cheese (about 1 cup); substitute Swiss or Old Cheddar
Small bunch chives
Tart Shell (Pie crust):
- In food processor, combine flour, butter and salt. Pulse 5-10 times or until butter is broken down. Add 3 tbsp cold water and pulse just until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add 1 tbsp water if necessary but, do not pulse more than 10 times total.
- Transfer dough to sheet o or parchment paper. Form into ball and flatten into disk. Wrap in parchment and refrigerate for 30-60 min.
- On floured work surface, roll out dough into disk slightly larger than 11” tar pan with removable bottom (works fine in pie plate too).
- Carefully transfer dough to pan, patching any holes as needed, and pressing gently into sides. To trim dough, roll rolling pin around top edge of pan, using edge as cutting surface and let excess fall away. Tidy up edge and refrigerate until firm, 30-60 min.
- Prick dough all over. Line with parchment paper, and fill pie weights or beans.
- Bake in 400F oven for 15min; remove paper and weights and bake until just golden; 10-15min longer.
- Remove pan but do not turn off oven. Let tart base cool slightly before filling.
Goat Cheese Filling:
- In bowl, combine eggs, sour cream and salt.
- Slice goat cheese into 9 rounds and arrange over tart base (pie shell).
- Pour egg mixture over top and then sprinkle with Gruyere (or Swiss or Cheddar).
- Snip chives with kitchen shears and sprinkle over top.
- Bake for 20-30 min or until browned. Serve warm.
Julie's Notes: Use frozen pie shell to make this a super-simple batch cook staple. Cook from frozen at 400F for 40-60 min or until warmed through.
