cheese | A little Swiss, a little Canadian

This week went by rather quick. The weather is still in April fools mood, giving us a taste of everything, the only sign of spring has been some crocus blooming in my garden.

My veggie tart has been inspired by these gorgeous ratatouille tarts I’ve seen online. Instead of using all ratatouille ingredients, I’ve skipped the tomatoes and eggplants and used sweet potatoes and red peppers for some red color. Pretty simple ingredients but it will take some time and patience to assemble the veggies. In the end I was happy with the result, gorgeous and delicious!

Before

and after baking

Zucchini and Sweet Potato Tart

Crust:

300 g white spelt flour
100 g butter, melted
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
room temperature water

-In a mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt, add the melted butter and a few tablespoons of water. Mix together, adding more water if needed. Knead only until well combined. Let rest in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Vegetable filling:

2 sweet potatoes
2 green zucchini
2 yellow squash
1 red pepper or italian tomato
1 small onion
50 g grated old cheddar or Gruyère cheese
milk or cream
sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, nutmeg, dried oregano and basil, or herb the provence

-Slice all vegetables thinly by hand or use a mandolin. The sweet potatoes have to be thinner than the other vegetables, because they need a little longer to cook through. You want to be able to see the green and yellow skin of the squash and zucchini. (You might not need all the vegetables)

-Line bottom of a 11-inch/ 28 cm tart/pie form, grease sides. Roll out dough to fit the form. Prick bottom with a fork. Sprinkle evenly with the grated cheese.

-Starting on the outside, alternate with sweet potato, green zucchini and then yellow squash until you fill the entire form. I’ve added the onions and red pepper last.

-Add some milk or cream and season generously and evenly with salt, pepper, garlic powder, nutmeg and herbs.

-Bake in preheated 350F/180C oven (convection setting) for about 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown and sweet potatoes are tender. Cover with aluminum foil halfway through baking. If it looks dry, add some more milk or cream. Let rest for a few minutes before cutting.

Tip: Try to get same size, and not to thick, vegetables for the slices to be similar, it will be easier to assemble.

I would like to dedicate this to all the lives lost and those injured in the tragic #Humboltbroncos accident last week on Friday, in Saskatchewan, Canada. Our thoughts and prayers go out the families and everyone involved.

Ursula

A very happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas time and hope your having a great start into the new year 2018! I’ve been a bit absent lately mainly because I had my mom and stepfather visiting over the holidays. The short time we usually get to spend together is always very precious and I probably only get to see them again in summer. We had a wonderful Christmas, they also had some taste of what a real Canadian winter is all about;) lol. On the day they arrived in Toronto they ended up having to spend the night there, because all connecting flights to London, Ontario, were cancelled because of snow squalls. We got so much snow that day, at least 40 cm!

For New Years Eve I’ve made these yummy spinach cheese bites, with homemade puff pastry. I usually don’t eat so much cheese, just once in a while, because I love it:) Homemade puff pastry is delicious but takes some time to make, so feel free to use store bought. These bites are great as an appetizer or served with a tossed salad as a meal. Maybe next time I’ll make a pie size version:)

Spinach and Cheese Dip Bites

Yields: 24

Filling:

2 cups chopped frozen spinach, thawed
1 tsp garlic finely chopped
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup garlic cream cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 can Pillsbury crescent dough or other puff pastry

-Combine spinach, garlic and Parmesan cheese. Blend in cream cheese and 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

-On a lightly floured surface roll out puff pastry into a rectangle. Cut into 24 squares. Place each square into a lightly greased muffin tin. Gently push down.

-Place one rounded teaspoon of your spinach mixture into each square. Top with the remaining mozzarella cheese.

-Bake in a preheated 375F oven for about 15 minutes or golden brown. Let rest a few minutes before removing.

Here is my quick Puff pastry recipe, from Betty Bossi

250 g unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
175 g butter, cold, cut into approx. 4 cm squares
150 ml cold water

-Mix together flour and salt, add the butter and water until everything holds together. Butter pieces have to stay big.

Step 1: On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough into a rectangle, 1 cm thick. Fold in both sides towards the middle, then fold one side onto the other. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

-Roll out dough again into a rectangle and repeat step 1. Refrigerate and repeat 4x all together. After the 4th time refrigerate for 30 minutes.