This recipe for blue cheese and bacon tart is really easy to make and is packet full of great flavours. Make sure you use a high-quality blue cheese so that it has a bit of a kick. It’s delicious hot or cold, serve with a simple salad.
Ingredients
- unsmoked bacon lardons 200g
- olive oil
- onions 2, finely diced
- garlic 1 clove, finely grated on a microplane
- thyme leaves from 3 sprigs
- mixed mushrooms 400g, sliced if large
- butter
- young or spinach 100g
- eggs 4
- milk 150ml
- goat’s curd (find it in cheese shops or use curd cheese) 200g
- blue cheese 200g, crumbled
- parmesan 3 tbsp, grated
Method
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To make the rich shortcrust pastry, whizz the flour and butter to breadcrumbs in a food processor. Add the egg yolks and pulse until it starts to come together (you might need to add a splash of cold water). Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes. Heat the oven to 190c/fan 170c/gas 5. Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface then line a 24cm × 4cm tart tin. A good chef’s trick is to leave the excess pastry draped over the edges of the tin to stop it from shrinking. Line with baking paper and beans then put on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Take out the beans and paper, brush all over with egg white (left from the pastry) and bake for another 10 minutes. The egg white will seal any cracks in the pastry and stop it going soggy. Take out of the oven to cool, and turn the oven down to 180c/fan 160c/gas 4.
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All the filling ingredients need cooking first – this is important for two reasons. It concentrates flavour and it gets rid of excess moisture. Soggy ingredients can ruin a tart. Tip the lardons into a hot pan with 1 tbsp olive oil. you want them to be really crisp so take the colour quite dark. When the lardons are cooked, tip the oil away and drain them on a double layer of kitchen paper. Add the onions and garlic to the same pan with another glug of olive oil and the thyme and cook until softened and golden. Now add the mushrooms and increase the heat a little. Cook until all their water has evaporated and they are browned and nutty. I’m using a selection of wild mushrooms but you can use any combination you like. Season the mushrooms then add a knob of butter, tip the bacon back in with the spinach and stir until the spinach has wilted down. Tip everything on to a plate to cool a little while you make the custard.
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Whisk the eggs and milk together then add the curd cheese and blend until smooth using a hand blender. Season then add the filling mix and stir. To finish the tart, layer up the blue cheese with the filling mix then finish with a good scattering of parmesan. Bake for 35-45 minutes until just set. Trim off the excess pastry and leave the tart to sit for 20 minutes before you cut it.