Recipes › Beetroot › Beetroot and Goat's Cheese Tart with Walnut Pastry
Beetroot and Goat's Cheese Tart with Walnut Pastry
A proper showstopper of a tart — roasted beetroot layered over a tangy goat's cheese custard, all held in a nutty, crumbly walnut pastry case. This is the kind of thing that looks like you've made a real effort but rewards you handsomely for it. Serve warm or at room temperature with a simple green salad.
Beetroot is in season now. More beetroot recipes, or see what to sow this month where you are.
Ingredients
- 700 g raw beetroot, peeled and cut into 5mm slices
- 180 g plain flour
- 60 g walnuts, finely ground in a food processoror use hazelnuts
- 100 g cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tbsp ice-cold water
- 200 soft goat's cheeseor use ricotta for a milder flavour
- 150 ml double cream
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme, leaves picked
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
- 1 tbsp honey (optional)
Contains: cereals gluten, eggs, milk, nuts.
Method
- Heat your oven to 200°C / 180°C fan. Toss the sliced beetroot with the olive oil, half the thyme, a good pinch of salt and pepper on a large baking tray. Spread in a single layer and roast for 30 minutes until just tender and the edges are starting to caramelise. Remove and set aside. Reduce the oven to 180°C / 160°C fan.About 35 min
- While the beetroot roasts, make the pastry. Put the flour, ground walnuts and a pinch of salt into a large bowl. Add the cold cubed butter and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and ice-cold water and bring it together into a dough — it should just hold without being sticky. Flatten into a disc, wrap in cling film and chill for 20 minutes.About 10 min
- Roll the chilled pastry out on a lightly floured surface to about 3mm thickness and use it to line a 23cm loose-bottomed tart tin. Press it gently into the corners, leaving a little overhang. Chill for a further 10 minutes.About 12 min
- Line the pastry case with baking paper and fill with baking beans or dried rice. Blind bake for 15 minutes, then remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 8 minutes until the base is dry and pale golden. Trim any excess pastry from the rim with a sharp knife.About 23 min
- Whisk together the goat's cheese, double cream, beaten eggs, remaining thyme, salt and pepper in a bowl until smooth. A few small lumps of cheese are fine — they'll melt into the custard.About 3 min
- Pour the goat's cheese custard into the baked pastry case. Arrange the roasted beetroot slices on top, overlapping slightly in concentric circles. If using, drizzle over the honey. Bake at 180°C / 160°C fan for 25 minutes until the custard is just set with a very slight wobble in the centre.About 25 min
- Leave the tart to rest in the tin for 10 minutes before slicing — this helps the custard firm up fully and makes it much easier to serve cleanly.About 10 min
Tips
- Wear gloves when peeling and slicing raw beetroot or your hands will be stained for days. A dedicated plastic chopping board helps too.
- Don't skip chilling the pastry — walnut pastry is richer than plain shortcrust and benefits from that rest to stop it shrinking in the tin.
- The tart is at its best served slightly warm rather than hot, which allows the custard to hold its shape and the flavours to settle.
Ring the changes
- Swap the walnuts in the pastry for pecans if that's what you have in the cupboard — the flavour is slightly sweeter but works beautifully.
- Add 30g of finely sliced caramelised onion beneath the beetroot layer for extra sweetness and depth.
Keeping it
Keep leftovers in the fridge, covered, for up to 2 days. Reheat slices in a 160°C oven for 10 minutes. Not suitable for freezing once the custard is set.
In the app this recipe finds you
Log what you've picked and GrowMore CookMore matches it to 1,918 more recipes like this one, tells you what's ready before the frost gets it, and keeps the freezer honest. Free to start.
More from the same crop
Raw grated beetroot blended into the falafel mixture gives you a striking deep-crimson colour and a naturally sweet earthiness that works beautifully with chickpeas and warm spices. These are baked rather than fried, which makes them far easier to cook in a home kitchen without compromising the crisp exterior. Serve stuffed into flatbreads with plenty of the tangy tahini sauce.
55 min · medium · BeetrootJapchae — the Korean glass noodle stir-fry — is given a vivid garden twist here by using matchstick-cut raw beetroot as the primary vegetable, which softens just enough in the wok while keeping a gentle bite. The beetroot bleeds into the noodles, turning everything a deep, jewelled pink, and the soy, sesame oil and gochujang dressing ties it all together with a savoury, lightly spiced warmth. It makes a brilliant weeknight supper on its own or alongside whatever else is coming from the garden.
35 min · medium · BeetrootRaw beetroot is the real hero here — grated and tossed with crisp apple, fennel and red cabbage in a punchy horseradish and crème fraîche dressing. It comes together in under 20 minutes and punches well above its weight alongside grilled fish, cold meats or a cheese board. The colour alone is extraordinary.
18 min · easy · Beetroot
Allotment keeper in the North East of England, the voice behind the Tony C Smith YouTube channel, and the gardener who built GrowMore CookMore. Club numbers on this page update as members log their plots. Last updated 4 April 2026.