Ratatouille Tart
This is a delicious summer inspired tart - chicken and courgette combined with a ratatouille topping and crumbly golden pastry. Use a deep flan dish, if you have one, and make the most of a frilled pastry edge.
Ingredients
Method
Pastry
- 200g plain flour
- pinch of salt
- 100g butter, melted
- 2 to 3 tbsp water to combine
- 1 egg yolk, beaten
Filling
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 300g Chicken Mince
- 100g courgettes
- 3 tbsp cream fraiche or sour cream
- salt and pepper to taste
- leaves of 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
Ratatouille
- 2 red onions
- 1 red pepper
- 1 yellow pepper
- 300g eggplant
- 210g can diced tomatoes
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 200g fresh tomatoes
50g pine nuts
- Prepare the vegetables for the ratatouille as they’ll be roasting in the oven while you make the pastry. Peel and slice onions thinly; cut peppers in half and discard the core and seeds, before cutting into 1cm cubes. Cut the aubergine into 1 cm cubs as well. You can leave the skin on! Place all prepared vegetables into a roasting pan, splash all over with olive oil, salt lightly and bake in the oven for 20 minutes until tender and caramelised. Turn vegetables over in the pan during roasting to ensure even cooking.
- To make pastry, place the dry ingredients into a bowl or food processor and scatter over cubes of butter. Mix this together using a flat to bladed knife, or process for about 10 seconds in a food processor to form a crumbly mixture. Combine whisked egg yolk and water, and pour in a little at a time, until the mixture forms a soft dough. If using a food processor use the pulse button until the dough forms small pebbles, before removing and rolling into a ball by hand. Wrap in clingwrap and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
- To prepare chicken filling, heat oil in a non-stick frying pan and gently cook minced chicken over a moderate heat until browned. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients, season with salt and black pepper to taste.
- Allow all the mixtures to cool a little before spooning into pastry case and topping with pine nuts. Cook in the oven for a further 20 minutes until the pastry is firm.