Roasted Veggie Tart with Potato Crust

 

Can I talk about the weather for a minute?

Let’s not dwell much on the winter since I’m sure, like me, you’re glad it’s over. Especially this winter with its record colds and snowfalls. One after another, after another.

Why even mention the torrential rains of March? The flooding. The power failure. (The two day power failure.) Losing all the food in the fridge and freezer. Wading through the floating crap in the basement. That musty smell. I just want to forget it ever happened.

I do want to talk about the warm sunny days of Spring. The kind we’ve been having. Blue skies. Warm sun. Cool breezes. Folks walking with their families and pets on the boulevard in front of our house. Everyone is outside enjoying the weather.

So, yesterday we got our butts out of the house (after we opened all the windows). We got out into the yard and cleaned the deck and patio. We put up the hammock and rearranged the furniture. We’ve barbecued burgers and ate our dinner outside.

This morning the hubs and I had a lovely european-style breakfast—cheese, prosciutto, fresh pears and strawberries—on the patio. Over hot coffee (I didn’t think to make espresso) we talked and listened to the birds chatter. Then we had family over for an Easter lunch of ham, sweet potato biscuits, a lovely large salad, deviled eggs, and this Roasted Veggie Tart.

It was a perfect day and a perfect visit. I don’t ever remember being this happy about the arrival of Spring.

Roasted Veggie Tart with Potato Crust

Potato Crust

2 1/2 cups grated potatoes*
2 flax eggs (2 tablespoons flax meal mixed with 6 tablespoons warm water)
2 tablespoons sorghum or brown rice flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons grated pecorino romano cheese

Roasted Vegetables

1/2 cup broccoli florets
1 dozen asparagus spears
1 medium onion
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
olive oil
salt and pepper

Toppings

1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese (white)
4 tablespoons feta cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Convection roast is ideal if your stove has it.

Prepare the crust.

Whisk the flax meal and warm water together. Add oil, salt, pepper, flour, grated pecorino and mix together. Place the shredded potatoes in a large bowl. Add the flax mixture and mix together well. (If using freshly grated potatoes make sure they are well drained and all the liquid is squeezed out. *Alternatively you can use one 20-ounce package of gluten-free Simply Potatoes Shredded Hash Browns.

Press the mixture into a large tart pan—I used a 11” fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Push the potatoes up the sides of the pan. The crust should pressed firmly and measure about 1/4 inch thick.

Bake about 20-25 minutes or until edges are just slightly brown.

Roast the vegetables.

Cut the veggies—onions into thin slices and the broccoli into small florets. Trim the asparagus to about 6 inches.  Place the veggies onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast in a 400 degree oven for about 10-20 minutes until the vegetables are just beginning to brown but still firm. This can be done simultaneously to cooking the potato crust.

Assemble and bake the tart.

Reduce the oven heat to 350 degrees (convection bake).

Remove the crust and vegetables from the oven. Sprinkle the still warm crust with half the grated cheddar cheese. Assemble the vegetables over the cheese. You can mix them up or arrange them in a pretty design. Sprinkle the rest of the cheddar and the feta over the vegetables.

Bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes until the cheese is melted taking care not to burn the exposed potato crust.

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Pickled Seckel Pears

Don’t you just love cookbooks? Me? I’m a raging cookbook-aholic. There’s tons of them tucked here and there around the house filling a big double cabinet in the kitchen, part of a bookcase in the family room and another in my office. Right now the coffee table is loaded with cookbooks old and new—a few borrowed from my mother and two that were just added to the collection yesterday.

At one point I gave a whole bunch away (and sometimes I regret that) to make more space for new ones.

This recipe is from one of my Mom’s favorite cookbooks. She has two “go to” cookbooks—the red one and the green one. The red one is the Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook, a standard in every house before The Joy of Cooking took that spot. The green one is the standard even before Betty Crocker! Yes, it’s that old.

The book is appropriately titled The American Woman’s Cookbook, published by Garden City Publishing Company, Garden City, NY and edited by Ruth Berolzheimer of the Culinary Arts Institute. It was originally published in 1938—although my Mom has a ’50s version. And, at that time it was the cookbook given from an aunt or a sister to a young bride when she first set up housekeeping.

In the town where I grew up there’s a local orchard—Stoneyfield Orchards—that grew seckel pears, apples, peaches, and pears. And, wouldn’t you know, the green cookbook had a recipe for pickling the seckel pears.

When I was young my family was big into canning and so that’s what we did with these puppies. I know the canning rules have changed and this recipe doesn’t call for canning so I’m not recommending you do that unless you’re a master canner and understand the new rules. But, definitely make a small batch to serve with Sunday dinner, for a special evening, or for Thanksgiving. You can make these days in advance and keep them in the “sirup” in the fridge. (Yep, they spelled it “sirup”!)

Here’s the recipe exactly as it appears in the book.  You’ll definitely have to scale it down—unless, of course, you really love them or have a big family.

Pickled Seckel Pears

7 pounds Seckel pears

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon allspice

1 tablespoon cloves

1 ounce ginger root

1 pint vinegar

1 pint water

3 1/2 pounds sugar

Pare pears leaving stems on. Tie spices in a bag and add to the vinegar water and sugar, and boil mixture 5 minutes. Add pears a few at a time and cook until tender and clear. Place pears in a jar, pour in sirup and seal. Makes about 5 pints.

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