30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 10 – Green Onion, Goat Cheese & Thyme Tart (YUM!)

Time to make another one of my favorites – my Green Onion, Goat Cheese & Thyme tart!  This is a also a great idea for Thanksgiving or Christmas Day breakfast if you have guests staying.   Hey, you’ll be up getting that turkey ready for dinner anyway!  Might as well have a little something in the bellies to stave off the crowd until Turkey time!  Tips below on what you can prep the night before.

At the time of this writing, there was less than 1/4 of the tart left so I am glad I got pictures!!  Today I am SO thankful for food in our bellies.

I love working with pastry dough, both sweet and savory.  This savory tart is super simple and one that everyone raves about and, once you master a tart like this, you can add so many variations to it and just make it your own.

I started with a basic tart dough (AKA “Pâte Brisée”).  Easiest recipe ever  so don’t for a second think you can’t make it.

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 sticks cold butter, chopped into small cubes
• 1 tsp. each of salt and sugar
• 1/4 cup of ice water

Once you start working with dough, you will know when to add a few more drops of water if it’s needed until it just comes together. The chunks of butter make it extra flaky.  Combine your dry ingredients in the food processor (you can also use your stand mixer); Add the butter and process until it forms pea sized crumbs (do NOT over process) and slowly add the water in a stream while processing until the dough just comes together.  So important not to over mix so that the butter is still in little chunks.

Once the dough was made I divided it in half, creating two rounds, wrapped them tightly in plastic wrap and I put them back in the fridge to get them good and chilled again.  Always work with cold dough.  Can’t say that enough!

Then, it was ready to roll out on a floured board…

and be laid into the tart pan:

This recipe makes two tart shells:

But for today I was only making one tart, so I wrapped the second tightly and placed it in the fridge, and will make it in the next day or so.  If you have a hungry crowd, however, you can go ahead and double this filling and make both!

 Once in the tart pan, I again covered it tightly with plastic wrap and once again set to chill in the fridge for about 15 more minutes while I started to prepare the filling. (**Make Ahead Tip:  At this point, the tart dough can chill overnight to bake in the morning.   Just make sure it’s wrapped tightly).

Once chilled, line one of the tarts with aluminum foil and place some pie weights in to keep it from rising up too much (you can also use dried beans, but then you can’t cook them later so if you use beans, just save them to recycle as future pie weights!).

Into a 400* oven it goes to pre-bake for 10 minutes.  Reduce the heat to 375*, remove the pie weights and foil and bake until golden – about 15-20 minutes more.

In the meantime, I chopped about 20 scallions, an inch or so in length,  and two cloves of garlic

and grabbed a few sprigs of fresh thyme from our patio garden.

Store bought thyme is fine too but if you DO use dried thyme, just remember that dried herbs are a little stronger than fresh herbs, so use a little less.  Fresh herbs are always best if available, but there are just times (thymes?) when I know it’s not possible!

On medium-high heat, add 1 tbsp of butter to the pan.  Once the butter is melted, toss in:

• scallions
• 2 cloves or roughly chopped garlic
• 1/2 tsp chopped thyme
• 1/4 cup chicken stock or broth
• salt and pepper to taste

After a few minutes cooking on high heat, reduce the heat to low and cover;  sauté until the onions are soft – about 15 minutes.

Scallions sautéing with two roughly chopped garlic cloves, thyme and chicken stock:

While those cook down, combine the following in a mixing bowl:

• 1/4 lb Chevre (goat cheese) – I have also used Manchego, which is delicious so just use your favorite soft cheese.
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 eggs

Uncover the green onions and raise the heat to high, stirring until all of the liquid is evaporated – about 3 minutes.

Add the green onion mixture to the goat cheese filling and stir to combine well.  (**Make Ahead Tip:  If baking the next day, cover the filling tightly  once cooled, and refrigerate overnight).

Pour the filling into the partially-baked tart shell and for about 25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.  One the tart has cooled for about 10 minutes, I removed the tart from the pan.  Hello, gorgeous!

Just yummy, flaky goodness that even the smaller boys enjoyed!   Tarts are perfect for breakfast, lunch OR dinner!

Guess I better go grab a slice before it’s all gone…

Happy Baking!  Be sure to let me know if you make it or tell me about your favorite tart recipe!  I’ll get this posted over on my “Recipes” page soon.

xoxo

Claire

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Linking up to some fabulous parties:

Wonderful Food Wednesday @ At Home Take 2

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