On a warm Summer’s day, when feeding a crowd, a beautifully prepared tart can be a magnificent centerpiece and a lovely break from the ever present BBQ’s at this time of year.

You will need a half quantity of our simple short crust pastry, recipe which can be found in our Beef and Vegetable Pie recipe here. You might as well make the whole quantity though and keep the other half in the freezer for back up.

Ingredients

100 mls of sour cream or Greek yogurt
1 cup of grated parmesan cheese
150 grams of cream cheese
1 egg white

1 large zucchini
1 large eggplant
1/4 butternut pumpkin

salt and pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
zest of one lemon
1 tablespoon of chopped thyme leaves

Method

1. Prepare the pastry according the to the recipe (or whatever recipe you prefer) enough to make one pastry case about 25cm in diametre and 4cm high or equivalent. Fill the inside with baking paper and baking beads, or old beans or rice and pre-bake for 15 minutes. Remove the pastry weights and then cook for a further 5 minutes until the centre of the base is just starting to colour. Remove from the oven.
2. Beat the egg white and using a pastry brush, spread this over the inside of the tart base. This acts as a sealant to stop the filling from making the base soggy.
3. Using a mandolin or even a good vegetable peeler, slice the vegetables length-ways, with the skin on, so that you have thin long strips. If you can do this with a knife then that’s just as good.
4. Beat the 3 cheeses together until a smooth and even mixture and season with salt and pepper. Beat in the lemon zest and thyme. Spread the mixture evenly in the pastry case.
5. Decide what order you’re going to arrange the vegetables in. You’ll be doing it one slice at a time, until you run out of pieces. Take a strip of vegetable no.1 and roll it up. Take a strip of vegetable no.2 and roll it around the first piece. Take a strip of vegetable no.3 and roll it around next. When it’s getting close to being too big to handle, lift the roll and place it in the center of the pastry case. Continue to add layers, but arranging it while in the pastry instead of on your bench. This is like making a paper rose. Continue until you have used all your strips.
6. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius. Brush the tops of the vegetables with olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes and then cover with tin foil and bake for a further 15 minutes. Allow to cool before removing from tin and serving.