Our Vegetarian Asparagus & Gruyere Tart is the perfect addition to any brunch!
Vegetarian Asparagus & Gruyere Tart
Serves 4
Ingredients
1½ cups plain flour
½ cup hazelnut meal (or almond meal)
½ tsp salt
125g butter, diced and chilled
1 egg, yolk
1 tbsp ice-cold water
2–3 bunches asparagus
300ml light sour cream
3 eggs (extra)
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
salt (extra), to season
pepper, to season
50g Gruyère cheese, grated (½ cup)
500g small vine-ripened tomatoes
olive oil spray
small white bread rolls, to serve
Method
1 Put flour, hazelnut meal and salt in a food processor and process for 30 seconds or until combined. Add butter and process until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add egg yolk and water. Pulse until pastry just comes together.
Turn pastry onto a lightly floured surface. Lightly knead until smooth. Form into a rectangular shape and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm.
2 Preheat oven to 200C. Lightly grease a 34cm x 11.5cm x 2.5cm rectangular fluted loose-bottom flan tin. Roll pastry out to 3mm thick and line prepared flan tin. Trim edges by rolling a rolling pin over top of flan tin.
Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Put a sheet of baking paper over pastry shell and fill with baking beads (or dry rice). Bake for 15 minutes. Remove beads and paper and bake for
10 minutes or until light golden. Cool.
3 Trim asparagus stalks to fit across flan tin. Put asparagus in a shallow heatproof dish. Cover with boiling water and stand for 1–2 minutes or until bright green. Drain and rinse in ice-cold water. Drain and pat dry with paper towel.
4 Put sour cream, eggs (extra) and cayenne pepper in a bowl. Whisk until well combined. Season with salt and pepper. Stir through cheese. Put flan tin on a large baking tray. Spoon egg mixture into cooled pastry shell, smoothing the top.
Place asparagus on top, filling the pastry shell along its length. Bake for 35–40 minutes or until filling is set.
5 Meanwhile, put tomatoes on a baking tray. Spray with oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 20–25 minutes or until tomatoes are soft.
Stand tart for 5 minutes before transferring to a serving platter or large board. Serve with roasted tomatoes and fresh bread rolls.