Butternut squash, spinach and goat cheese tart

Update: I forgot that I added an onion! Revised recipe below.

I made this a few weeks ago, when I had some friends over for brunch. The brunch was an excuse to eat homemade doughnuts, but I thought I had better serve something a bit more substantial first. I wanted to use butternut squash, as a huge one had taken over all my (very limited) counter space, and I found this recipe, but it had been adapted from a book called Roast Figs, Sugar Snow by Diana Henry. I haven't got my hands on this book yet, but it sounds good--wintry recipes from all over the world. I used goat cheese, as I didn't have any blue cheese on hand, but I plan to make it with the stronger cheese next time. I thought this tart was fantastic--very flavourful and it made excellent lunches for me for a few days. Just eat any leftovers at room temperature, as microwaving destroys the crust. I used an all-butter crust instead of the shortening one (eeww), but used a lower ratio of butter to flour, as it was all I had. It was perfect--buttery and flaky.

Pastry

1½ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed and frozen

ice water, 4-8 tablespoons (mine took 7)

Combine flour and salt in food processor and pulse to mix. Add butter, and pulse until butter is broken up--some pieces will be tiny, but some should still be pea-sized. Add water a few tablespoons at a time and pulse. You don't want it to come together in a ball. Instead, open the processor and squeeze some of the mixture together. If it holds, you're done. I often put too much water in my impatience, but it'll be fine after resting. Flatten into a disc, wrap in plastic and refigerate for a few hours.

Preheat oven to 350℉. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface till it is about 13" in diameter. It'll be thin, which is how I like my crust. Transfer to a 10" tart pan or springform pan (I used a springform). If using a tart pan, you can fold down the pastry to make a thicker edge. If using a springform, trim the pastry so it is an even(ish) height all around. Freeze while the oven preheats. I baked the squash at the same time, so read below to have that ready. Prick the pastry with a fork, line it with greased foil and dried beans. Bake for about 10 minutes, then remove the foil and beans and bake for another 10 minutes or so. You want it set and dry, but only lightly coloured. My oven runs very slow, so keep an eye on it! Cool on a rack.

Filling

1 pound (454 grams) of butternut squash
olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced

½ pound (250 grams) of spinach, washed and stemmed

2 large eggs, plus one yolk

1 cup whipping cream

2 ounces (about 50 grams) grated Parmesan cheese

3.5 ounces (100 grams) goat cheese, crumbled into large pieces

a few leaves of fresh sage, minced, or a grating of fresh nutmeg
salt and pepper

Cut squash into large cubes (about 1"/2.5 cm) and toss with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper on a baking sheet. Roast in the oven, underneath the tart shell if you're doing both, for 25 minutes or so, till tender. Set aside to cool.
Saute onion in olive oil until it is completely softened and nicely brown.
Blanch spinach in boiling water for a minute, drain, rinse with cold water, then squeeze till it's dry. Chop roughly. 

Mix the eggs and yolk, cream, Parmesan, sage or nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste.

Scatter the squash, spinach and goat cheese over the bottom of the tart shell, and pour the custard mixture over. It will be very close to the top of the crust, and that's fine. Bake at 350℉ for 40 minutes, until golden and set. Let cool on a rack for at least 10 minutes before removing from pan and serving. This tart is good warm or at room temperature.

My new favourite pizza?

Yes, Mr Blogspot, I am ignoring the red squiggly line under favourite. That's how it's spelled here, like it or not. Nobody's listening to you anyway, since blogspot has its own squiggly line. Let's talk about my pizza instead.

The photo is terrible, but it was after dark when I made this, and this is the best I could do. What you're looking at is a base of creamy chipotle spinach, topped with sweet potatoes, feta and cilantro. 

Make the pizza dough first, and then the spinach, so it can cool while the dough is rising. If you are using tiles or a pizza stone, preheat oven to 500/550℉ at least 30 minutes before you want to bake the pizza. If you are using a cookie sheet, preheat it for 10 minutes or so.

Basic pizza dough (from Gourmet Today)

2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast

about 1¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus additional for kneading

¾ cup warm water

1½ teaspoons salt

1½ teaspoons olive oil

Stir together the yeast, 1 tablespoon flour and ¼ cup warm water in a measuring cup and let stand until creamy, about 5 minutes. If nothing happens, you need new yeast.

Stir together 1¼ cups flour and the salt in a large bowl. Add the yeast mixture, the remaining water and the olive oil and stir until smooth. Add enough of the remaining flour (about ½ cup) so dough comes away from sides of bowl. The dough may be wetter than other doughs you've made (I didn't find this).

Knead dough on a dry surface with lightly floured hands until smooth, soft, and elastic. This dough was great: very silky, but not sticky at all. Form into a ball, put on a lightly floured surface and generously dust with flour. Cover loosely with plastic wrap (or the large bowl you just dirtied), and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1¼ hours. 

To shape dough, do not punch down dough, but generously flour it and transfer it to a dry work surface. Holding one edge of dough in the air with both hands and letting bottom just touch the surface, quickly and carefully move your hands around edge of dough as though you were turning a steering wheel, allowing weight of dough to stretch round to roughly 10 inches. Okay, that's confusing--just shape it however you usually do! More detail from the book: lay dough on a floured surface and continue to work edges with your fingers, stretching it to a 14-inch round. Lay the dough on a peel dusted with cornmeal. Top with spinach, and then sweet potatoes and crumbled feta, or other cheese, a little or a lot. Bake for 10-12 minutes if using tiles, a few minutes longer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro. 

Creamy chipotle spinach

about ½ cup whipping cream

1 bunch spinach, washed and trimmed, or an 8-ounce bag

1 chipotle in adobo, chopped

salt to taste

Combine cream and chipotle in a wide, flat pan, over medium-high heat, and reduce cream to about ¼-⅓ cup. Add spinach and salt, and turn, until wilted. Set aside to cool. 

Just before baking, peel and slice your sweet potato very thinly. I steamed mine for a few minutes, but I don't think it was necessary, as I cut them on a mandolin. 

The before picture: