A delicious tart with caramelised garlic, goat cheese, and fresh herbs. Perfect for brunch, lunch, dinner, party or picnic.
Yotam Ottolenghi’s Caramelised Garlic Tart Recipe
This caramelised garlic tart recipe comes from Chef Ottolenghi’s book, Plenty. Plenty is a book about vegetables and interesting and inspiring ways to cook them. The tart makes a great brunch, lunch, dinner, party or picnic dish - a great all rounder. Making the caramelised garlic tart takes a little work, but is well worth the effort.
Ingredients
- 13 ounces all-butter puff pastry
- 3 medium heads garlic, cloves separated and peeled
- Water, as needed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 3/4 tablespoon superfine sugar
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme, plus a few whole sprigs
- Salt, to taste
- 4 1/4 ounces soft, creamy goat cheese
- 4 1/4 ounces hard, mature goat cheese
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup crème fraîche
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
- Gather the ingredients.
- Roll the puff pastry into a circle to line both the bottom and sides of a 28cm (11-inch) fluted tart tin and line with the pastry. Onto the bottom of the pan, place a large circle of greaseproof paper and fill with a layer of dry baking beans or rice. Place the tart into the fridge for approximately 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C/Gas Mark 4 and bake the pastry case for 20 minutes, remove both the beans and paper and bake for another 5 minutes so the pastry is cooked and golden but not over-browned. Remove from the oven and leave to one side.
- While the tart case is cooking, place the garlic cloves in a small saucepan. Cover with cold water and bring to a gentle simmer, cook for 3 minutes then drain through a colander or sieve.
- Wipe the saucepan dry then add the cloves and olive oil and fry on a high heat for 2 minutes and no more. Add the balsamic vinegar, 1 cup of water and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes add the sugar, rosemary, chopped thyme and ¼ teaspoon salt and continue to cook on a medium heat for a further 10 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated and the garlic cloves are coated in a dark caramel syrup. Set aside.
- To assemble the tart: break both goat’s cheeses into pieces and scatter in the pastry case and spoon over the garlic and any syrup.
- Whisk together the eggs, creams, ½ teaspoon salt and some black pepper. Pour over the garlic and cheeses making sure that you can still see both on the surface.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 320°F/160°C/Gas Mark 3 and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the tart filling has set and the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool a little then take out of tin, lay the remaining thyme sprigs on top and serve warm Serve with a crisp salad. If eating later the tart does reheat very well.
- The tart can be reheated if not consumed immediately.
