Flakey butter pastry, with a creamy rosemary parmesan filling, layered with potato and kabocha pumpkin.
This recipe can easily be altered to a quick version by substituting store bought puff pastry for the dough. The quality of the tart will not suffer, and it will trim three hours from the prep time. If time isn’t a factor, please continue reading for the scratch version.
To make the dough, mix the flour and salt. Cut the cold cubed butter into the flour mixture. I did this using a bench scraper, chopping the butter and folding it together. The butter should be smaller than pea size before adding the water. Mix in the water, trying not to knead the dough. Form the dough into a rectangle shape. It will be rough and shaggy at this point. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. The resting time not only relaxes the gluten, but it also solidifies the butter to create the flakey layers.
Using as little flour as possible, roll the dough into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Fold each side to meet in the middle. Fold the two sides together like a book. Gently press the dough together. Wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Repeat this process twice more and refrigerate another 30 minutes before forming the tart.
After the final rest, preheat the oven and roll the dough into a 14 x 7-inch rectangle. It should be about 1/4 inch in thickness. Trim off any rough or uneven edges. Transfer the dough to a sheet pan lined with parchment. Mark a one-inch border around the rectangle with a knife. Be careful not to cut all the way through the pastry. Pierce the inside of the rectangle many times with a fork. The holes allow air to escape, so no bubbles form in the crust. Spread the cheese mixture inside the pastry border.
Layer the seasoned potato and pumpkin on the cheese. I alternated between the two, but feel free to get creative with the design. Brush the dough border with egg wash and bake for 40 minutes. Rotate the tart halfway through baking for even doneness. If a bubble appears while baking, poke it with a knife. After it deflates, situate the veggies back into place and continue baking. If you look at the picture above, you will see a darker brown spot on the top of the tart. This spot is where a bubble appeared. It did not affect the flavor, just gave it some character!
Potato Pumpkin Tart
Ingredients
Pastry
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 cup butter 1 stick
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp ice water
Tart
- 1 potato peeled and sliced
- 6 ounces pumpkin kabocha or butternut peeled
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 2 ounces cream cheese
- 1/4 cup cream
- 1/2 tsp rosemary chopped fine
- 1 tsp garlic minced
- 1 cup parmesan cheese grated fine
- 1/8 tsp pepper
- 1 egg
- rosemary for garnish
Instructions
Pastry
- Combine flour and salt. Cut the butter into small cubes and cut it into the flour. Mix in the ice water. Form the rough dough into a rectangle, wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
- Roll the dough into a rectangle. Fold both ends to meet in the middle and fold together like a book. Press together, wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Repeat this process twice more and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll the dough into a 1/4 inch thick, 14×7 rectangle. Trim off any uneven edges. Place the dough on a lined sheet pan. Mark a 1 inch border around the dough. Pierce the inside of the rectangle with a fork. Spread the cheese filling inside of the border. Layer the pumpkin and potato on top of the cheese. Brush the exposed edges with egg wash and bake for 40 minutes. Until the edges are brown and the potato and pumpkin are tender. Cut into 8 Portions, sprinkle with rosemary, and serve.
Tart
- Thinly slice the potato and pumpkin on a mandolin slicer. Mix with oil salt and pepper. Layer over the cheese filling.
- Mix the cream cheese, cream, parmesan, rosemary, garlic, and pepper. Spread on the dough.
- Whisk the egg and use to brush the edges of the dough.
