Vegetable Spiral Tart

Tart Crust

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour

3/4 tsp kosher salt

16 tbs butter (chilled and cut into 1/2″ pieces)

1/2 cup water (very cold)

Vegetable Filling

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 1/4 cup parmesan (finely grated, 1/4 cup reserved)

2 tbs kosher salt

1/2 tsp pepper (ground)

1/4 tsp nutmeg (grated)

1/4 tsp chili powder

3 tbs extra virgin olive oil

3-4 purple carrots (medium)

2 russet potato (large)

2 green zucchini (medium)

2 sweet potato (large)

 

Sprinkle the cold water on top and pulse again just until the dough comes together into a ball, but it won’t be completely smooth yet. You should still see small bits of butter. Place a piece of plastic wrap on your working surface and turn the dough out onto it. Fold the plastic over and press the dough into a 1-inch thick disc. Make sure it is wrapped completely and refrigerate the disc of dough for 2 hours (or overnight). When chilled, place the disk of dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out until 1/8 inch thick, periodically lifting and rotating to make sure it isn’t sticking to your surface (dust your surface as needed). Carefully transfer the dough to your tart pan, easing it in without stretching the sides, and gently press into place. Trim with a sharp knife even with the rim of your pan. Chill until firm to touch, 30 min – 1 hour. At this point it can be frozen (well- wrapped) for 2 weeks if needed. No thawing necessary if you freeze it! Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line the tart shell with parchment paper and fill with pie weights (or dried beans). To partially bake, bake until the surface looks dry and pale, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and remove the paper and weights. Return to the oven a bake for 5 minutes longer.

 

Tart Crust

 

To make the dough in a food processor, put your flour and salt in the food processor and sprinkle on your cold butter pieces. Cover and pulse several times until the butter is cut into pea size pieces.

 

Vegetable Filling

 

As your tart shell is being partially baked, prep the vegetables by shaving them into thin ribbons. A mandolin would work but I find a vegetable peeler even easier and faster – and you get even finer shavings, which cuts down on the cooking time of the tart. For the potatoes and sweet potatoes, I recommend cutting them in quarters, length-wise. All the vegetables should roughly be around the same width so when they’re laid upright in the tart, you can visibly see all the pretty, colorful layers. In a large mixing bowl, combine cream, parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg and chili pepper. Whisk until combined. Toss the vegetable ribbons into the cream mixture until they’re all coated. Take a ribbon (I like to use zucchini here) since it’s so flexible. Roll it into a tight spiral and place it on the center of the partially baked tart shell. Take another vegetable and wrap it around the center spiral. Continue working outwards, alternating vegetables. The cream actually makes the vegetables stick to each other so it’s not as hard as it looks! Once you’ve reached the edge of the tart shell, brush the top of the tart with olive oil and sprinkle with a good sprinkling of finely grated parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 °F for 50 to 60 minutes, until vegetables are soft and cooked through. Cool in tart pan for 10 minutes, then slice and serve.

 

Baking time will greatly depend on how thin your vegetables are. Using a good quality, sharp Y-peeler is preferred over a mandolin, and much safer and faster to use. If you use a mandolin, I recommend covering the tart with foil to bake for 20 minutes and then removing the foil and bake uncovered for another 45 minutes. In the spring and summer,  you can replace the root vegetables with different varieties of squash and eggplant. I would just decrease the baking time.