Roasted pumpkin and goat cheese tart

Intro

To make this tart, I used the Kabocha squash (Potiron) that I bought from the market in Morlaix. It’s a widespread and popular variety in Japan. My mother used to make lots of different recipes with the pumpkins grown in my grandma’s fields. From pumpkin custard puddings to various soups and other pumpkins cooked with some sugar and soy sauce.

When I bought it, I used half to make a pumpkin soup and let the other half in the fridge for a few days. Eventually, I had to use it, so I thought I would try to make a savoury tart for our lunch!

I still have some parts to fix, but my family was delighted with the tart!

Usually, I prepare a buttery tart pastry for most of the tarts I serve, but I thought I could try something different for a change. So I made a vegan tart pastry from a recipe I found on this website. The ingredients are only T80 flour, olive oil, water, salt and herbs.

Health benefits

Pumpkins

Different types of pumpkins

• Acorn squash
• Butternut squash
• Crown prince
• Kabocha squash (My favourite!)
• Onion squash (Red Kuri squash)
• Delicata squash

Pumpkin is a great source of potassium and beta-carotene, which is a carotenoid that converts to vitamin A. It also contains some minerals including calcium and magnesium, as well as vitamins E, C and some B vitamins.

(BBC good food)

Goat cheese

Goat cheese contains a high amount of vitamin E, K, B6 and B3.

They are slightly higher in fat and minerals than cow’s milk and a lower amount of lactose, vitamin D and riboflavin. (Master Class, 2020)

Ingredients

Roasted pumpkins

• Half pumpkin (it was roughly 600g for me)
• Olive oil
• Salt
• White pepper
  

Caramelised onion

• 3 to 4 large onions
• 2 tablespoons of vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of maple syrup
• Water
  

Vegan savoury tart pastry

• 250g wholemeal flour (T80)
• Plus, extra to dust the tart mould and to roll the pastry. (I used buckwheat flour because I had just the right amount of flour for the tart)
• Half teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of thyme
• 60ml olive oil
• 120ml cold water
• 200g goats cheese

Instructions

Vegan savoury tart pastry (for 28cm tart mould)

1. So that the tart doesn’t stick to the mould, spread a thin layer of olive oil on the tart mould and sprinkle some flour on top. Flip your mould, and then tap it lightly on your table to remove the excess flour.
2. Place flour, salt and thyme in the large bowl and combine well.
3. Add the olive oil and the water.
4. Mix with a fork (I did with my silicone spatula) until combined. Do not over mix it.
5. Sprinkle some flour on your work surface and transfer the dough on to it. Knead gently until the dough just comes together. Don’t overwork on it. Otherwise, the tart will be chewy with the gluten instead of crumbly when you eat it.
6. Roll out the dough to about a pound coin’s thickness. Sprinkle some flour if you need it.
7. Place the rolled dough over the tart mould and gently press it down to remove the air between the dough and the mould.
8. Put something (I used beeswax wrap) to cover the mould and the shaped dough and let it rest in the fridge for at least half an hour.
9. Preheat your oven to 175°C.
10. Optional (before or after cooking): Take the tart mould out of the fridge and remove the excess dough with a small sharp knife. (I did after cooked the tart case because some dough shrinks when it’s cooked. But this one was fine!)
11. Poke with a fork the bottom of the tart case, and it’s ready to go into the oven! Cook for about 15 minutes until the dough has a light golden brown colour.

Roasted pumpkins

Tip: Place a wet cloth under your chopping board to avoid slipping.

1. Remove the seeds and some parts of the skins of the pumpkin. I only removed the hard part.
2. Cut into about a bite-size and place on the baking tray.
3. Sprinkle some olive oil, freshly ground white pepper,  and salt very lightly, just enough to bring the pumpkin’s sweetness.
4. Toss the pumpkins and your seasoning gently together to mix them.
5. Bring the oven to 180°C and place the baking tray with the seasoned pumpkins bits.
6. Cook for about 15 minutes until it gets soft.

Caramelised onion (it took half an hour)

1. Slice onions thinly, cut along the fibre.
2. Heat your pan with medium heat.
3. Put about one tablespoon of olive oil and place all the onions.
4. Keep stirring to avoid burning them. If it’s starting to get brown, lower the heat to medium-low or low heat and add some water to prevent burning.
5. Add maple syrup and vinegar and continue stirring.
6. When the onions get brown from the caramelisation, it’s ready!

Start putting them together!

1. On the tart case, spread the caramelised onion.
2. Put the roasted pumpkin randomly over it.
3. Add goat cheese in between pumpkins. (you can cut them with a knife to make it neater, but I simply tired them by hand)
4. Put it back in the oven for about 15 to 20minutes.

What I should have done

• Have a little bit more pumpkins (it probably won’t be a problem for you since it won’t be a leftover pumpkin, like in my case)
• Cut more onions to make more caramelised onions.
• Eat it whole on the first day. It gets pretty dry the next day.
  

Serving suggestion

• Eat the tart on the same day! Preferably when it came out freshly from the oven.
• Serve with some salad on the side with a homemade vinaigrette.
• You can make this roasted pumpkin tart recipe completely vegan by replacing the goat cheese with vegan cheese (with a cashew base), as the tart case is already vegan!

Closing words

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