Fig & Goat's Cheese Tart by Ella Jackson
Are you a dessert person or a cheese board person?
If, like me, you’re often torn between the two (or live with someone whose preference differs from yours), then this is an excellent little pud to follow an indulgent main course.
Alternatively, it works really well as a starter, light lunch, or a sneaky snack!
Serves 4 as a light lunch or starter, and maybe 6-8 full people as a dessert.
Featured Product: Figs with Cognac in Syrup
You will need:
- A shallow 23cm flan/pie tin (preferably loose-bottomed)
- Baking beans (uncooked rice will also do the trick)
- Greaseproof paper
Method
Preheat your oven to 180 Celsius/Gas Mark 4
1. To make the pastry (or, if you don’t fancy that, skip to step 4) sift the flour and salt into a bowl and add the butter in little chunks and work into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Ideally, as you need to keep the mixture as cold as possible, just pop everything in a food processor, if you have one, and give it a whizz.
2. Gradually add little dashes of water until the pastry just about sticks together as a dough. Lightly grease your tin.
3. When your pastry is chilled, roll it out on a lightly floured surface, and line the bottom and sides of your tin. Place a circle of greaseproof paper over the base and fill it with your backing beans.
4. Pop your tart case in the fridge to chill for half an hour or so while you preheat your oven to 180℃/Gas Mark 4.
5. Next, make your filling. Keeping a couple of slices of the goat’s cheese aside for later, beat the eggs together with all your dairy ingredients, then mix in the seasoning and some thyme leaves. Refrigerate while you bake your pastry.
6. Blind bake your pastry case for 20 minutes, then remove both the beans and the paper and bake for 10 minutes or so, until the pastry is golden.
7. Pour your filling into the case and then gently push the remaining goat’s cheese slices, walnuts and fig halves into the mixture and sprinkle some more thyme leaves on the top.
8. Reduce the oven temperature to 180℃/Gas Mark 3 and bake for approximately 45 minutes. You will know when it’s cooked as the filling will be firm and the top a gorgeous golden brown.
9. Remove your tart from the oven and leave to cool a little, so it’s easier to remove from the tin.
We ate this warm as a dessert, with a sprinkling of our foraged gorse flowers on the top, washed down with a glass of Prosecco mixed with some of the delicious leftover cognac syrup, and then had the rest of the tart cold with a salad for lunch the next day. Enjoy!