Spring vegetable tart recipe

Our spring vegetable tart is a light and creamy tart with a fresh, herby flavour and eye catching green colour. The ricotta filling is blended with fresh basil to give a smooth and flavourful pastry dish that makes a perfect light lunch or summer buffet dish. The pastry is enriched with grated Parmesan to give an extra cheesy flavour to this spring vegetable tart. If you like quiche but fancy something a little different, then this spring vegetable tart will be right up your street.

Ingredients

For the pastry:

• 300g plain flour
• pinch of nutmeg
• 50g grated vegetarian Parmesan, plus 50g for filling
• 175g butter, diced
• 1 large egg

For the filling:

• 375g ricotta cheese
• 2tbsp half-fat creme fraiche
• 3 large eggs
• 1 large bunch basil leaves
• 4 spring onions, sliced in half lengthways
• 100g fine asparagus

Method

1. Put the flour, nutmeg, Parmesan and butter into a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the egg and pulse again to bring together to form a dough. Add a little water if it doesn’t come together. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and leave it to chill for 10-15 mins. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 190C.
2. To make the filling, blitz together the ricotta, creme fraiche, eggs and basil leaves in a food processor, then stir through the Parmesan. Roll out the crust to a 5mm thick rectangle, then lay it on a well-floured baking tray, and spread with the ricotta mixture, leaving a border of about 5cm. Fold the edges over the filling and bake for 35-40 mins until cooked through.
3. Twenty mins before the tart is done, top with spring onions and asparagus and return to the oven for the remaining cooking time. Once set and the pastry is golden, remove, cut into slices and serve warm or at room temperature with a rocket salad.