Zucchinitarte (savoury zucchini tart)
A shortcrust tart, zucchini salted and drained first so it does not weep into the custard, layered with Gruyère and a garlic and dill custard. Salting the zucchini is the one step that separates a tart that slices cleanly from one that turns to soup on the plate.
Christoph's zucchini tart, built around salting the zucchini first, the step that keeps the custard from turning watery.
Ingredients
Written for a 26 cm round tin
Units
Temperature
Servings
Base
- 200 g flour rounded
- 2 g fine salt rounded
- 100 g cold butter, cubed rounded
- 40 ml cold water rounded
Filling
- 500 g zucchini, thinly sliced rounded
- 5 g fine salt, for salting the zucchini rounded
- 4 eggs rounded
- 200 ml cream rounded
- 120 g Gruyère, grated; vegetarian rennet, if available rounded
- 10 g garlic, finely chopped rounded
- 10 g fresh dill, chopped (optional) rounded
- to taste freshly grated nutmeg rounded
- to taste freshly ground black pepper rounded
Dietary labels are a guide, not a guarantee. If you have an allergy, read the ingredients yourself.
Method
- Rub the cold butter into the flour and salt until it looks like coarse crumbs, then add the water and bring together into a dough with a few folds, not kneading. Wrap and chill for 20 minutes.
- Salt the zucchini slices and leave them in a colander for 20 minutes, then pat thoroughly dry with a clean towel. This step is not optional; skipped, the tart weeps liquid into the custard as it bakes.
- Roll out the dough and line a 26 cm tart tin. Prick the base, line with baking paper and baking beans, and blind bake at 200°C for 12 minutes. Remove the beans and paper and bake 5 more minutes, until pale gold. Reduce the oven to 190°C.
- Whisk the eggs, cream, garlic, dill, nutmeg and pepper together.
- Scatter half the Gruyère over the base, arrange the dried zucchini slices over it, then pour the custard over. Scatter the remaining cheese on top.
- Bake at 190°C for 35 to 40 minutes, until fully set with only the very centre holding a faint softness.
- Rest 10 minutes before slicing, so the custard finishes setting and holds a cleaner cut.
Notes
- Salting and drying the zucchini is the whole trick here. Zucchini is mostly water, and without this step the custard around it never fully sets, however long it bakes.
- Do not skip the blind bake. A raw base under a wet custard filling stays soggy in the centre no matter how long the whole tart is in the oven.
- A savoury custard bakes further than a sweet one. Judge it by full set with barely any give, not the gentle wobble a dessert tart wants.
- It keeps for 3 days in the fridge and reheats well in a moderate oven; a microwave leaves the pastry soft.
Ingredient substitutions
- Gruyère can be any good melting hard cheese; a mix of Gruyère and Parmesan adds a sharper edge.
- Dill can be chives or basil for a different herbal note.
- For a lighter tart, swap half the cream for whole milk; the custard sets slightly softer but still holds.
- Yellow summer squash works in place of zucchini with the same salting step.
From Christoph Mayer