Spiral courgette tart with pine nut salsa
This is the show stopper for a summer lunch. It light, fresh and zesty and best served along side a green salad. Courgette and basil is a such a lovely combination and they complement each other wonderfully. And the pine nut salsa brings the tart together completely.
Ingredients
Tart
Ready roll shortcrust pastry
150g quark
30g parmesan
2 spring onions, finely chopped
Zest of 1 lemon
1 egg
A handful of basil, finely sliced
4 courgettes, thinly sliced into strips using a peeler
Salsa
50g toasted pine nuts
Juice from one and a half lemons
1 shallot, finely diced
2 tbsp olive oil
A handful of basil, thinly sliced
Method
1. Preheat your oven to 180C conventional
2. Roll your pastry out so it fits into your tart tin. Press into the sides of the tin then put it in the freezer for 15 mins
3. Take out your tart tin and fill with baking beans. Place in the oven for 15mins or until your base is not damp anymore. Then remove the beans and cook for 5 mins more.
4. Mix the quark, parmesan, spring onions, lemon zest, egg, salt and pepper and basil together in a bowl.
Spread over cooled tart case in an even layer.
5. On a chopping board, layer roughly 8 courgette ribbons on top of each other. Then take the smallest, closest side to you and roll into a pinwheel.
6. Place in the centre of your tart tin and then add layers of courgette around the outside of the pin wheel to create a larger circle.
7. Continue right up until you are around 2cm away from the edge of the pastry.
8. Bake for 40-50mins or until the courgette has started to turn golden and until all the liquid has evaporated off the top of the courgette.
9. While the tart is cooling, make the pine nut salsa. Mix all the salsa ingredients together with some salt and pepper.
10. Allow the tart to cool for 10mins then spoon the salsa around the outside of the tart- the 2cm left between the pastry and the courgette. If you have some left over, sprinkle it over the top of the courgette.
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