Bluedot Living will regularly run recipes and tips from Pascale Beale, the popular Santa Barbara-based chef, teacher, and cookbook author.
Beale has long been a proponent of cooking with in-season ingredients. “Every season has its own stars, I believe it’s worth waiting for them,” Beale told Bluedot contributing editor Catherine Walthers in this conversation.
She is also passionate about using every last bit of food in your pantry, and in her regular cooking classes (available online), she stresses to make the most of what you’ve already got. “There is so, so much food waste,” she told Walthers. “Learn to make the most of leftovers, the carcass from a roast chicken kept to make stock for example. I like to do something called a TDF (Tour de Frigidaire), something made out of all the little bits and pieces left in the fridge.”
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RECIPE: Zucchini Tarts with Herb Salad
- Yield: Makes 4 individual tartlettes 1x
Description
I readily admit that these tarts are a labor of love. Yes, it does take some time to roll up all those zucchini rosettes and yes, it’s worth it. All of this because of a photograph I saw in a magazine in France. The photo showed one giant zucchini “rose” that covered an entire tart. I made a version of that dish for my Les Fruits cookbook in which I added tomatoes to the rosettes to add another layer of flavor and some juiciness. I had only rolled two zucchini ribbons and added some tomatoes around the outside when I realized that it looked like a rose and so made dozens more resembling an edible bouquet. Turns out it was a delicious one, too.
This mini version is just made with zucchini.
Ingredients
For the tart shell (you will have some dough remaining, refrigerate the rest for later use):
- 9 oz unbleached all-purpose flour
- 5 1/2 oz butter — cut into small pieces
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 large egg
- Pinch of salt
For the zucchini:
- 4–6 yellow squash/zucchini (if they are small you may need a couple more)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon champagne vinegar
- Salt
- 5–6 grinds black pepper
For the cheese filling:
- 1/4 cup goat cheese — crumbled
- 1/4 cup ricotta
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped chives
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 5 grinds black pepper
For the herb salad:
- 2 handfuls pea sprouts
- 20 purple basil leaves
- 20 Thai or lemon basil leaves
- 20 cilantro leaves
For the vinaigrette:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
- 1 tablespoon chopped chives
- Pinch of salt
- 3–4 grinds pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Lightly butter four, 4-inch tart pans.
- Place all the dough ingredients in the bowl of the food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Use longer pulses until the dough forms a ball.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes. (You can make the dough ahead of time and remove it from the fridge approximately 20 minutes before using.)
- On a lightly floured board, roll out the dough to a 14-inch circle. Line the four tart pans with the dough. Trim the edges with a sharp knife and then prick the dough with a fork.
- Remove the ends of the zucchini. Using a vegetable peeler, shave the zucchini lengthwise into thin slices. To make a rosette, tightly roll one strip. Repeat with the remaining strips. Place the rosettes upright on a board until you are ready to assemble the tart.
- In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, vinegar, a pinch of salt and 5-6 grinds of pepper and 1 tablespoon of chives. Reserve.
- In a small bowl, mix all the filling ingredients together to form a smooth paste. Spread the mixture evenly over the prepared tart bases.
- Starting with the outside edge of the tart, tightly pack the zucchini rosettes standing them next to one another.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes in the center of the oven, until the crust is a pale golden brown.
For the herb salad:
- Arrange the pea sprouts in a circle of four dinner plates. Intersperse the basil and cilantro leaves in and around the pea sprouts.
- In a small bowl whisk together all the vinaigrette ingredients. When the tarts are ready, carefully place them in the center of each dinner plate, then lightly drizzle the vinaigrette over the herbs. Serve while the tarts are still warm.
