Recipes › Cauliflower › Cauliflower Cheese Tart with Wholegrain Mustard Pastry
Cauliflower Cheese Tart with Wholegrain Mustard Pastry
A deeply savoury open tart with a sharp, mustardy shortcrust base and a filling of roasted cauliflower set in a rich Gruyère and crème fraîche custard. This is the kind of thing you make when you want to show off what your garden is doing without making it look like you tried too hard. It slices beautifully and is just as good at room temperature as it is warm.
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Ingredients
- 700 g cauliflower, broken into small florets, about 3cm
- 200 g plain flour
- 100 g cold unsalted butter, cut into 1cm cubes
- 2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
- 30 ml ice cold water
- 1 pinch fine salt
- 3 eggs
- 200 ml crème fraîche
- 100 ml double cream
- 100 Gruyère, finely gratedor use a strong mature Cheddar
- 30 g Parmesan, finely grated
- 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 fresh thyme, leaves strippedor use 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 pinch black pepper, freshly ground
Contains: cereals gluten, eggs, milk, mustard.
Method
- Make the pastry. Put the flour, butter and salt into a large bowl and rub together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs with a few larger flakes of butter still visible. Add the wholegrain mustard and the ice cold water and bring together quickly into a dough — handle it as little as possible. Flatten into a disc, wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.About 10 min
- While the pastry chills, heat your oven to 220°C / 200°C fan. Toss the cauliflower florets with the olive oil, garlic, thyme leaves, a good pinch of salt and black pepper. Spread on a large baking tray in a single layer and roast for 20 minutes, turning halfway, until the florets are tender and have taken on some golden-brown colour at the edges. Set aside to cool slightly.About 22 min
- Once the pastry has chilled, remove it from the fridge. On a lightly floured surface, roll out to approximately 3mm thickness — large enough to line a 23cm loose-bottomed tart tin with some overhang. Carefully lift the pastry into the tin, pressing it into the edges. Trim the excess but leave a 1cm overhang above the rim to allow for shrinkage. Prick the base all over with a fork, line with baking parchment and fill with baking beans or uncooked rice.About 8 min
- Reduce the oven to 200°C / 180°C fan. Blind bake the pastry case for 15 minutes, then carefully remove the parchment and baking beans and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes until the base is dry and lightly golden. Use a small sharp knife to trim any excess pastry flush with the top of the tin.About 20 min
- In a jug, whisk together the eggs, crème fraîche, double cream, 70g of the Gruyère, the Parmesan, nutmeg and a good pinch of salt and black pepper.About 2 min
- Arrange the roasted cauliflower florets evenly in the blind-baked pastry case. Pour the custard mixture slowly over the top, allowing it to fill around the florets. Scatter over the remaining 30g of Gruyère.About 3 min
- Carefully transfer to the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the custard is just set — it should have a very slight wobble in the centre when you gently shake the tin. Remove and leave to cool in the tin for at least 10 minutes before slicing.About 30 min
Tips
- Really cold butter and minimal handling are the two rules for good shortcrust. If your kitchen is warm, put the rubbed-in mixture in the fridge for 10 minutes before adding the liquid.
- Don't skip the blind bake — it is the only thing standing between you and a soggy bottom. Make sure the base is genuinely dry before you add the filling.
- The tart is fully cooked when the edges are set and golden and the centre still has a very slight tremor. It will firm up as it cools. Overcooking will give you a scrambled-egg texture.
Ring the changes
- Swap the Gruyère for a strong mature Cheddar and add 4 rashers of crispy streaky bacon to the filling for a non-vegetarian version.
- Add 50g of finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes to the custard for a more Mediterranean flavour.
Keeping it
Store cooled tart, loosely covered, in the fridge for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before serving or warm in a low oven (160°C fan) for 10 minutes. The pastry will soften overnight but the flavour is excellent.
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