Spring Vegetable, Ricotta & Almond Tart

By Catherine Noonan on October 22, 2013 in Food

Photo: Catherine Noonan

While it does contain dairy products, it is completely grain and sugar free. The filling predominantly comprises eggs and almond meal and the flavour is enhanced with quality fresh ricotta and parmesan cheese. I’ve included vegetables such as garden peas, leek and zucchini, but you could really use any lightly cooked green vegetables – think broccoli and asparagus, for example.

I used a spring-form cake tin, which makes removal easy, and I recommend using a ‘convection’ oven mode rather than ‘fan-forced’ to prevent the top from browning too early.

If you’re entertaining, you could divide the mixture amongst a dozen mini-tart-shells or bake miniature versions in a muffin tray. If you do this, however, you will need to reduce the cooking time to approximately 15-20 minutes.

This is also a great family-friendly dish to share with your baby. Just cut a narrow slice of tart into cubes or small sticks to offer to your baby as finger-food. They’ll love the subtle cheese flavour and the soft texture ensures easy chewing – no teeth necessary!

You can store the tart in an airtight container in your refrigerator for several days, or in the freezer for a couple of weeks.

Ingredients (Serves 8)
1 leek, thinly sliced
8 eggs
1/2 cup green peas
1 zucchini, grated
200g fresh ricotta cheese
50g parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
3/4 cup almond meal

Method
1. Preheat a convection oven to 160°C.
2. Grease and line a round spring-form cake tin (or deep tart tin) with baking paper and set aside.
3. In a frying pan, sauté the leek in a little olive oil until tender and then set aside.
4. In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs one at a time and whisk lightly.
5. Add the sautéed leek and all remaining ingredients, mixing until well combined.
6. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 1 hour, until the tart is lightly golden and firm to touch.
7. Allow the tart to rest and cool before removing it from the tin and serving.

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