Cheesey Tart with an Almond Crust

Cheesey Tart with an Almond Crust

One of the things I’ve really missed over the years of going gluten-free is a good savoury tart. So I challenged myself to come up with a low-carb crust for this book. So so glad I did. There’s something really therapeutic about making pastry. It’s so nice to have these brilliant do-ahead lunches / dinners back in my repertoire. Plus the leftovers! Oh the leftovers!

enough: for 6-8
takes: 2 hours
150g (5oz) parmesan cheese
250g (9oz) almond meal
125g (4.5oz) butter
2 tablespoons psyllium husks
600mL (2 1/2 cups) whipping cream
8 eggs

1. Preheat your oven to 180C (350F).

2. Grate parmesan using your food processor or a grater. Place 50g (2oz) grated cheese (NOT ALL OF IT! SAVE SOME FOR THE FILLING), almond meal and butter in your food processor. Pulse until the mixture looks like coarse bread crumbs. Add 2 tablespoons water and pulse a few more times. You don’t want to over mix.

3. Press the mixture into a ball with your hands. Roll pastry out between two sheets of baking paper until 5mm thick (1/3in). Line a 22cm (8.5in) x 5cm (2in) DEEP tart tin or spring form pan with the pastry. Patch any holes and trim the excess pastry from around the edge.

4. Place lined tart on a baking tray and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the pastry is well browned. The longer you cook here, the crunchier it will be.

5. Meanwhile mix cream and eggs in a large bowl or jug. When the pastry is cooked, carefully pour the egg mixture into the shell. Sprinkle over REMAINING CHEESE.

6. Reduce temperature to 150C (300F). Bake for 50-60 minutes or until the filling is puffy and feels springy. It will look lovely and brown. If the filling wobbles when you touch it, keep cooking!

7. Allow to cool for a few minutes then serve hot or at room temperature.

Variations

nut-free / budget – use regular flour. I’ve also made it with chickpea flour (besan) and it was excellent. But I prefer almond meal because it’s lower carb.

different flavours – roast eggplant is really good, grilled red peppers, roast mushrooms, roast diced root veg like sweet potato, wilted greens, smoked salmon, smoked trout, chopped chives, thyme.

carnivore – top with salami or prosciutto before serving.

no psyllium – this helps dry out and crisp up the crust. You could replace with extra almond meal or some oat bran or ground flax seed.

different cheese – replace parmesan with any other good melting cheese like cheddar, gruyere or emmental.

less cheesey – just skip the cheese.

dairy-free – use olive oil instead of butter. And your favourite dairy-free milk instead of the cream.

crunchier tart – after the tart shell has cooked for 25 minutes, brush with egg white and return to the oven for another 5 minutes. This helps prevent moisture transfer from the filling to the base but is a bit of a pain so I don’t normally bother.

larger tart – for a 24cm (9in) tin you’ll need: 180g (6.5oz) parmesan, 300g (10oz) almond meal, 150g (5oz) butter, 2.5 tablespoons psyllium, 750mL (3 cups) cream, 10 eggs.

Shelf Life / Storage

Lovely when still warm from the oven but it’s also great to have a slice cold from the fridge. Leftovers can be kept for 2 weeks or more in an airtight container in the fridge. Keeps for months in the freezer.