Goat Cheese Tart

In Ina Garten's Barefoot in Paris cookbook there's a recipe for Goat Cheese Tart that caught my eye recently. The filling calls for a garlic and herb soft goat cheese, such as Montrachet, which I cannot find here. Nevertheless I thought to try making it using a plain soft goat cheese instead, and adding the garlic and herbs myself.

Ina's pastry is extremely calorific listing just about equal quantities of flour and butter. I find this kind of buttercrust way too rich and, may I say, even oily. So I decided to stick to my usual shortcrust once again as I find it always turns out well and is very light and flaky. It's an absolute doddle to make so even if you "think" you can't make pastry do give this a try ... it couldn't be easier. And let me tell you, homemade is just so much better than anything you can buy.

So really it was the filling I was curious to try out. Winter is not the best time of year for fresh herbs from the garden but I had plenty of parsley and little each of basil and chives. To this I added a couple of sprigs of marjoram and thyme. Ina's recipe calls for a quarter cup of basil besides the herbs being present in the cheese. I would imagine this would give the tart a very definite taste of basil as it is a strong herb. Something to try perhaps in summer when my plants are thriving.

When I checked on the tart after 30 minutes the filling was peaking in the middle, rather like a soufflé, and had cracked open. The top was quite golden but I anyhow decided to give it another five minutes to make sure the filling was properly cooked, and hoped that upon taking it out of the oven it would sink back to a nice level surface. Well it did sink back but with a jagged crack across the top, so not looking like the most beautiful tart I've ever made. However as they say the proof of the pudding is in the eating and if this first attempt looks a little homemade ... so what.

I served this at room temperature and we had a quarter each for dinner served with a salad of watercress, pear slices braised in butter, and walnuts. Mmmmm ... gorgeous, really light and creamy and the taste of the herbs and garlic really shone through. Quite rich but this was offset by the freshness of the salad. Totally different to any other tart I've made and wonderful for a light meal. We'll most probably have the rest of it tomorrow with a basmati rice salad for a change.

Goat Cheese Tart - Serves 6

For the pastry:
225g plain flour
125g butter, from the refrigerator
good pinch salt
a little very cold water

For the filling:
15g unsalted butter
4 shallots, chopped
250g soft goat cheese
200ml heavy cream
3 large eggs
1 clove of garlic, minced
½ cup fresh herbs, chopped - a mix of parsley, basil, thyme and chives
salt and freshly ground pepper

Put the flour, the butter cut into cubes, and salt into the food processor and, using the plastic blade, process the mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add just enough water to make the pastry come together using the pulse button. Form the dough into a ball kneading very lightly, then wrap it in foil or clingfilm and refrigerate for about half an hour.

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Lightly butter a 24cm deep fluted tart form. Roll out the rested pastry on a lightly floured surface to a circle about 4cm wider all around than the form. Carefully lift the pastry into the form and gently press it into the base and sides, taking care not to stretch it. Trim away any excess pastry and prick the base with a fork. Chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

When the pastry is chilled, place a sheet of baking parchment over it, scrunching in the edges to fit if necessary. Fill with either baking beans, dried beans or rice grains to weigh down the pastry and stop it from rising whilst it is being part-cooked. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Now remove the baking parchment and beans, and pop the pastry shell back in the oven for another couple of minutes to dry the surface.

Whilst the pastry shell is in the oven, heat 15g of butter in a small pan and sauté the shallots over low heat for 5 minutes, or until tender.

Place the goat cheese in the bowl of the food processor and process until crumbly. Add the cream, eggs, garlic, herbs, ¼ tspn salt, a good grinding of black pepper, and process until blended.

Scatter the cooked shallots over the bottom of the pastry shell, then pour over the goat cheese mixture. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the tart is firm when shaken and the top is lightly browned. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and serve hot or at room temperature.