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Warrigals and Saltbush Tart from Simon Bryant

It has been a few weeks between recipes, here, and not because I don't have any. I have a few just waiting to be typed up and shared, so they will be coming soon enough!

In the meantime, here is another tasty recipe that Simon Bryant has kindly let us share here on the blog, though you can find this and other inspiring recipes on the technique section of his own website as well.

This recipe uses fresh Outback Pride herbs and vegetables, which are newly available at selected grocery outlets, such as at the Henley organic & sustainable market in Adelaide.

Short pastry (fits 25 cm tart tin)

280 g four leaf milling organic 85% light flour, plus a little extra for dusting
½ teaspoon table salt
180 g chilled B.-d.Farm Paris Creek butter, diced into 1 cm cubes and then allowed to come up to room temp
80 to 100 ml cold soda water

Filling

1 big leek, white part roughly sliced
20 g B.d Farm Paris Creek butter
30 ml organic extra virgin olive oil
3 medium-sized Scarfo Organic waxy potatoes, unpeeled, thinly sliced
2 sprigs thyme, leaves picked
1 fresh bay leaf
2 tablespoons cold water
sea salt and cracked black pepper
200 ml B.-d.Farm Paris cream
30 g B.-d.Farm Paris cheddar, grated
3 organic free-range eggs
200 g B.-d.Farm Paris fetta, cubed
2 cups lightly packed each Outback Pride warrigal greens and saltbush leaves
6 sprigs Outback Pride sea parsley picked and finely chopped

Method

To make the pastry, pop the flour into a large bowl, then add the salt and mix through. Rub in the butter cubes using your fingertips. When combined add the soda water and bring the dough together with the absolute minimum of mixing again trying to only use your finger tips to avoid the heat in your hands affecting the dough. The dough should be a little crumbly still and definitely not one cohesive mass. A few visible lumps of butter here and there are not a major issue and will actually make it flakier and nicer. Very roughly gather the dough into a ball.

Lightly sprinkle your benchtop with flour and roll out the dough into a circle about 33 cm in diameter by pinning from the centre out in all directions. (This will give you an extra 1.5 cm overhang on a 25 cm tart tin to allow for shrinkage when baking.) Grease a 25 cm tart tin and pop the dough in. Leave in the fridge for 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190°C fan-forced . Line the tart shell with baking paper and add at least a cup (200 g) of baking beans. Blind bake the pastry for 15 minutes until it is firm to the touch. Remove the baking beans and paper and return the tart shell to the oven for a couple more minutes to crisp and colour. Leave the tart shell in the tin and set it aside.

Reduce oven temp to 180 C

Meanwhile, for the filling, melt the butter and oil in a heavy-based medium-sized frying pan with a lid over medium heat. Add the leek and saute for a few minutes until softened, then add the potatoes, thyme, bay leaf and water. Season with ½ teaspoon salt and a good few twists of pepper (although I often omit the salt if the feta is heavily brined to prevent the dish becoming a little over-seasoned).

Reduce the heat to low and pop a lid on the pan. Cook the filling mixture for about 10 minutes, turning the potatoes a few times, until they are just tender to the touch. (They will cook a tiny bit more in the baking of the tart but they do need to be virtually ready to eat at this stage.) Remove the bay leaf and set the pan aside.

In a hot pan with a smidge of oil sauté the waragal greens and saltbush until wilted and add to the potato mixture

Mix the cream, parmesan and eggs together in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.

Spoon the leek and potato mixture into the tart shell. Pour over the egg mix and drop cubes of feta over the top and sprinle with crumbled cheddar.

Bake at 180°C for 25-30 minutes until just set. Insert a skewer into the tart - a little goo on the skewer is okay as the tart will continue setting when it is removed from the oven. However, the mixture should definitely not wobble when you shake the tin. The tart top should also have patches that are coloured up nicely.

Serve the tart hot or cold with a simple leaf salad.


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