This showstopper tart takes a little while to put together, but is so delicious it’s worth the effort – and as it can be completely made and frozen ahead, you have an impressive meal for guests ready and waiting.
This cheesy tart is filled with rich goat's cheese, sweet butternut squash and topped with seasonal cavolo nero! It's a delicious freeze ahead meal option.
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Yields:
6 serving(s)
Prep Time:
35 mins
Cook Time:
2 hrs
Total Time:
2 hrs 35 mins
Cal/Serv:
656
Ingredients
For the pastry
125g
butter, chilled and chopped
225g
plain flour, plus extra to dust
40g
Parmesan or vegetarian hard cheese, finely grated
1
egg yolk
For the filling
400g
butternut squash (from the bulb end), peeled and deseeded
2tsp.
vegetable oil
100g
cavolo nero
2
medium eggs
250ml
double cream
Whole nutmeg, to grate
100g
goat’s cheese, chopped, we used Capricorn
1/2
-1 red chilli, halved, deseeded and finely sliced
Directions
Step 1First, make the pastry. Using a food processor, pulse butter into the flour until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Alternatively, rub butter into flour using your fingertips. Pulse or mix in Parmesan/vegetarian hard cheese and a large pinch of fine salt, followed by 2-3tbsp ice cold water. Pulse or mix until pastry just comes together. Tip on to a work surface, shape into a disc, wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30min.
Step 2 Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan) mark 6. Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Slice squash into 1cm-thick wedges and toss with the oil. Arrange in a single layer on the lined tray and roast for 25-30min, until just tender. Cool.
Step 3Meanwhile, cook the cavolo nero (whole leaves) in a large pan of boiling salted water for 4-5min, until just tender. Carefully drain (the leaves will be very fragile), transfer to a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking, then drain again and lay on kitchen paper.
Step 4Lightly flour a work surface and roll out pastry; use to line a 23cm round, 3.5cm deep fluted tart tin and trim excess. Prick base all over with a fork. Chill for 30min and put a baking tray in the oven to preheat.
Step 5Line pastry in the tin with a large sheet of baking parchment and fill with baking beans. Slide on to the preheated baking tray and cook for 20min, until pastry sides are set. Carefully remove parchment and baking beans. Return tin to the oven for 10-12min, until pastry is lightly golden and feels sandy to the touch. Brush inside of the pastry all over with the egg yolk and return to oven for 5min, until set. Remove from oven and turn oven temperature down to 170ºC (150ºC) mark 3.
Step 6For the filling, in a large jug, whisk eggs, cream, plenty of freshly grated nutmeg, ¾tsp fine salt and some freshly ground black pepper until combined.
Step 7Arrange squash pieces, cavolo nero and goat’s cheese in the base of the pastry case (still in tin). Pour in the cream mixture and sprinkle over the chilli.
Step 8Cook for 40-45min, or until filling is golden and just set. Allow to rest for 5min before transferring to a serving plate or board. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature, in slices.
Freeze ahead
Cool tart completely in tin, wrap well and freeze for up to 1 month. To serve, defrost overnight in fridge. Unwrap and bring to room temperature or reheat in a low oven for 20min.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
