Gavin and I had a long weekend in Bendigo at the end of 2019 to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. The weather was very wet and wild on the Sunday, so we decided to go to the Art Gallery after church. We wandered around the gallery and then decided to have some lunch at the cafe there. I ordered a tart with pumpkin and walnuts and it was so delicious. I decided to try and re-create it myself at home. This is the result: a tasty, vegetarian pumpkin, walnut and feta tart. I serve it with my halved-baked potatoes and a salad.
I make it with my homemade tart pastry, but you can use bought sheet of shortcrust pastry.
Pumpkin, walnut and feta Tart
A vegetarian tart made with homemade shortcrust pastry, filled with baked pumpkin, toasted walnuts and feta cheese.
Lovely with a salads and/or baked potatoes or some crusty bread
Ingredients
Tart pastry
Tart Filling
Instructions
Preparation
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Prepare the pastry
Combine the flour and salt in a medium-sized bowl.
Cut the cold butter into small chunks. Quickly cut the butter into the flour using a pastry blender or your fingers. Or you can use a food processor and pulse 8 to 10 times, until mixture is breadcrumb like.
Gradually add the iced water until the mixture forms a soft dough. It is best to do this in the bowl, with your fingers. The more gentle you do this, the better. The dough will be rough but you should be able to make it into a ball.
Flatten it slightly into a disc shape, then wrap in silicone or beeswax wrap or baking paper and place in fridge for 20 minutes.
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Prepare the Pumpkin and walnuts
Turn the oven to 180C bake (160C fan bake).
Peel and chop the pumpkin into small cubes. Place on a lined baking tray and drizzle with olive oil and 1 teaspoon ground coriander. Put in the oven and bake until soft, about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, place the walnuts in a small saucepan and dry toast them until lightly browned. They burn easily, so keep an eye on them.
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Bake blind the pastry
Turn Oven to 200C, bake or pastry bake.
Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll out into a large circle, to fit your pie dish. Mine is 20cm in diameter.
Spray your dish, or line the bottom with some silicone or baking paper.
Gently place the pastry into your dish and cut off any excess pastry.
Place a sheet of silicone or baking paper lightly into the dish, on top of the pastry. Fill this with ceramic pie weights or uncooked rice/driedbeans.
Place dish into the oven and bake for 10-12 mins. Remove pie weights and brown off for about 5 to 10 more minutes. This ensures you won't have a soggy base.
Prepare the filling
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Cook the onion
Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Chop your onion finely and add to the heated oil. Season with a little salt and cook stirring every few minutes, until the onion is tender, about 5 mins.
Add the balsamic vinegar and cook another minute.
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Prepare the rest of the filling
Place the baked pumpkin and onion mixture into the baked tart case.
Whisk together the eggs and cream (or coconut cream), season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Pour this mixture over the pumpkin and walnuts in the tart case, being careful to let the mixture seep through them all.
Crumble the feta over the top, sprinkle over the walnuts and drizzle olive oil over the top.
Place tart in the oven and bake until the filling is just set, about 15 to 20 mins.
Sprinkle the cooked tart with parsley and let it rest at least 5 mins before serving
