Phil Vickery's summer vegetable tart
Phil’s making the most of all that fresh produce at the This Morning allotment with his beautiful veg tart.
Three beetroot tart with pickled cucumber
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
1 medium cucumber, sliced really thinly in long strips using a peeler1 tbsp sugar150ml rice wine vinegar1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil500g block puff pastry1 egg, beaten185g jar ‘ready made’ hollandaise sauce (ambient)4 spring onions, finely chopped150g fresh raw peas2 courgettes, cut into 1.5cm cubes and sautéed until golden 600g cooked mixed beetroot, peeled and sliced ½ cm thick3 tbsp extra virgin olive oilSalt and freshly ground pepper
Method
1 To make the pickled cucumber, sprinkle a little salt over the cucumber and leave in a colander for 10 minutes, this will release some of the water.
2 Rinse the cucumber well then place in a bowl. Add sugar, rice wine vinegar, sesame seeds and olive oil then mix well. Leave to soften.
3 Preheat the oven to 190C gas 5. Place the block of pastry onto a floured board and roll out to about 23 x 30cm
4 Using a small sharp knife, and not cutting all the way through the pastry, mark out a 2cm border around the edge of the pastry. Dock the centre area well with a fork.
5 Carefully place onto a non-stick baking sheet and brush the edge with beaten egg. Place into the oven and cook for about 20 minutes, or until cooked through but not too coloured.
6 Once cooked, spoon the hollandaise sauce over the central area and sprinkle over the spring onions, peas and courgettes.
7 Arrange the beetroots neatly on top, overlapping slightly, then sprinkle over the peas and olive oil. Return to the oven for 15 minutes until the pastry is nicely browned and cooked
8 Pile the cucumber on the tart and serve.