Susan Jung’s recipe for a vegetable tart with flavoured butter
How adding a knob of flavoured butter, such as piment d’Espelette butter, can perk up any dish
I’ve been experimenting lately with flavoured butters. While delicious spread on warm bread (which is how most people eat them), they are also good in cooked dishes. Using piment d’Espelette butter in a savoury tart dough adds another dimension – it’s not just the filling that has flavour, but also the crust. You can find piment d’Espelette butter at City’super and Fresh Mart, in Sogo. This dough goes well with vegetarian fillings (try it in a tart with leftover ratatouille), and in fish and shellfish tarts, all of which use a delicate custard as a binder.
ROASTED CAULIFLOWER, MUSHROOM AND GARLIC TART WITH PIMENT D’ESPELETTE BUTTER PÂTE BRISÉE
When I made this tart, I was surprised at how much filling it needed. The vegetables shrink considerably when roasted, so one tart used an entire head of cauliflower (cut into pieces) and two packs of button mushrooms.
For the pâte brisée:
180 grams plain (all-purpose) flour
½ tsp granulated sugar
125 grams piment d’Espelette butter, chilled
About 40ml iced water
For the filling:
1 head (about 750 grams) cauliflower
450 grams button mushrooms
1 head of garlic
Olive oil, as needed
For the custard:
2 large eggs
160ml cream
160ml milk
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Piment d’Espelette, for sprinkling