(Recipe can be found on the Five and Spice site here.)
Step by Step Instructions:
This dish begins with the tart dough, which requires the following ingredients: Ice Water, All-Purpose Flour, Salt, Vinegar (I used White Wine Vinegar), and 6 T. Cold Butter. I cut the 6 T. butter into small cubes and then placed the bowl of butter in the freezer for about 45 minutes to an hour, so that the butter was very cold when I was ready for it.
Begin by pulsing together 1 1/4 cup of flour and 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a food processor.
Then add the 6 T. of very cold butter…
…and pulse with flour until it is broken down a bit. You want small pea-sized balls of butter in the dough.
Then add 1 T. of vinegar and 1 T. of water to the processor and pulse the mixture. Then add additional water 1 T. at a time just until the dough comes together as you see above. I used 4 T. of water and I stopped when I could pinch the dough and it would stick together.
Turn out the dough onto your work surface.
Then shape the dough into a thick, flat disc. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
While the dough chills, the beets can be cooked. To make the rest of the Tart with Beet, Fig, and Chevre, the following ingredients are needed: Dried Mission Figs (I got these at Target), Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, Fresh Mint, 6-8 oz. of goat cheese, and 3 beets.
Begin by pre-heating the oven to 425 degrees. Then cut off the beet stems and root.
Using a vegetable peeler or paring knife, peel the skin off of the beets.
Then the beets need to be sliced into about 1/4 inch thick slices. I used a mandolin, and if you decide to do the same, just be careful as they are extremely sharp and dangerous. It took a bit of elbow grease and perseverance, but I got the beets sliced.
Then the beet slices get tossed with a splash of olive oil until lightly coated.
The slices are then laid on a cookie sheet and sprinkled with a little salt and freshly cracked pepper. My Silpat came in very handy here. Roast them for about 15 minutes or until they are tender when a fork is inserted.
While the beets roasted and the dough chilled, I thinly sliced a few dried Mission figs until I had 1/3 cup.
When the beets were finished roasting, I took them out of the oven and let them cool for a few minutes. Be sure to turn the oven down to 400 degrees when you take the beets out.
By now, the dough had chilled for more than 30 minutes, so I placed it on a floured surface…
…and rolled it out into a circle that was roughly 1/4 inch thick. Just be sure to press together any cracks in the dough. It can look very rustic though.
I took my softened goat cheese and crumbled half of it, which was placed in the center of the dough leaving a 1 inch border.
Then the figs get added to the goat cheese.
Next, the beets are layered over the top of the cheese and figs.
Then the remaining goat cheese is crumbled over the top of the beets. The side get pulled up and folded over one another to keep it in a circular shape as much as possible.
Getting the tart on the lined cookie sheet was a bit tricky but I managed. One thing you could do is to move the rolled out circle of dough to your lined cookie sheet and then build the tart from there so that you don’t have to transfer it from your work surface to the cookie sheet. I’ll probably try that next time. Then I baked the tart at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until the edges turn a golden brown.
While the tart is baking, I took 1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar and brought it to a boil. Then I simmered it for 10 minutes and set it aside to use later. It reduces to a thick glaze…yum!
I ended up baking the tart for 30 minutes until it looked like the above photo. Then it needs to cool for 10 minutes.
As the tart was cooling, I chiffonaded the fresh mint leaves that I had washed and dried until I had 2 Tablespoons of fresh mint. (To chiffonade the mint, stack several leaves on top of each other then roll them into a log and cut across the length of the mint log into small strips.)
Once cooled, I drizzled the balsamic glaze over the top of the tart and topped it with the fresh mint leaves. I had this as a meal, so I cut it as you would a pizza into 6 pieces. My friend and I each had 2 pieces and loved every second of it! Alternatively, you could slice it into very thing wedges of a pizza and serve it as an appetizer. I hope you make this dish, because it was a real treat! Enjoy!!
Tart with Beets, Figs, and Chevre
Tart Crust
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
6 Tbs. cold butter (like, really cold, I actually used butter that was frozen), cut into small chunks
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. white vinegar or lemon juice
3-4 Tbs. ice cold water
Preparation Instructions:
1. In a food processor, pulse together the flour and salt to combine. Then, pulse in the butter chunks until you have a mixture that is a coarse meal that still has pea sized pieces of butter in it.
2. Pulse in the vinegar and the water one Tbs. at a time until the dough just starts to come together. Then, turn it out and press it into a ball with your hands.
3. Flatten the ball of dough into a thick disc, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. You can prepare the beets while the dough refrigerates.
Beet and Fig Tart
Ingredients:
3 medium beets
olive oil, salt and pepper
tart dough (from recipe above)
6-8 oz. chevre (soft goat cheese)
1/3 cup dried mission figs, stems removed, sliced into thin pieces
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2 Tbs. chopped fresh mint leaves
Preparation Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 425F. Wash and peel the beets, then slice them into rounds that are about 1/4 inch thick.
2. Toss the beats with a splash of olive oil. Spread them out in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet (you may need to use 2 baking sheets) , then sprinkle them with a little salt and pepper. Roast them in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until they are tender and easily pierced with a fork. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool briefly.
3. Turn the oven down to 400F. When the tart dough has chilled, roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a circle about 1/4 inch thick (or a bit thicker). It can have ragged edges, that’s fine, but fix any cracks by pressing the dough together with your fingertips.
4. Crumble the chevre into small chunks (this is a slightly sticky process) and sprinkle half of the cheese onto the tart crust, leaving a 1-inch border around the edges.
5. Sprinkle the sliced figs on top of the cheese, then follow this by layering on the beets (still leaving a 1-inch border). Sprinkle the rest of the chevre on top.
6. Fold over the edge of the tart, toward the center, folding and overlapping the dough to keep it circular-ish. Slide carefully onto a baking sheet (if it is lined with parchment paper, it makes things – especially clean-up – easier) and bake at 400F for 25-30 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted.
7. While the tart is baking, put the balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then turn to a simmer, then cook until thick and syrupy and reduced by about three-quarters, about 10-15 minutes. Set aside.
8. When the tart is finished, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool for about 10 minutes. Before serving, drizzle the balsamic syrup all over it and sprinkle the mint leaves on top. Slice the tart into thin slices to serve as an appetizer. Or have bigger slices accompanied by a green salad for lunch or dinner.
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