Zucchini tart and string beans

Don't just think that hardly any time for food excludes the home-made vegetable tart. Here is a meal gilded by the evening light of a side order of string beans, stewed in some oil and their own juices, and a vegetable tart filled with zucchini and goat cheese. Hey, why not a string beans and goat cheese tart next time?

Key message of this post: Jason Epstein's memoir Eating has liberated me once and for all of the imperative that we should at all cost let a dough of pâte brisée (in some older posts on vegetable tarts I've spoken of pâte sablée) rest after blending the ingredients. Epstein doesn't bother, and I don't either, ever.

Pâte brisée (my recipe, see also Taty's in her book Tartes et Légumineuses)
10 dl (100 ml) cold water
250 g flour
125 g butter
pinch of salt (or add other spices e.g. paprika, curry)

Combine until you have the consistency of a soft leather glove. Quickly flatten and in one move, drape over a round baking tin. Cut off remaining edges if needed, form a smaller ball with them, and use the next day for something else (like a covered fruit dessert for instance).

Fine finger food in honor of a Great Ocean

There's no time in the Northern hemisphere I like better than this: the countdown to June 21. Before this, all of nature is thriving, moving to and reaching its most upward position. I'm eagerly enjoying this time, but also feeling pangs of regret that after solstice days are shortening and everything is slowly creeping downhill again.

Nothing better than some finger food to chase that thought, to prepare one day in advance and to take to a beach slightly cooled the next day or to a porch at sunset. It's a vegetable tart without a crust that I've described before (here), but last night I made it without crust and with variations. Use any vegetable, seasoning, flour and cheese of choice.

Crustless Leek Tart, with variations - Original recipe by Lucrèce Roegiers of Yggdrasil

6 leeks (I only had 4)
olive oil,
salt, pepper
dry herbs and spices of choice
50 g quinoa flour (variation) (or any type of flour, but use something gluten free for a change)
2-3 tablespoons breadcrumbs
3 beaten eggs
200 g fresh goat cheese (variation)
a few nibbles of grated young pecorino (variation)

Preheat the oven at 180 °C.

Stew the vegetables in some olive oil over moderate heat together with spices and herbs, (limited) salt and pepper, until tender. Remove from the heat.

Add the flour and bread crumbs to the vegetables, mix well, add the eggs mix well, and add the goat cheese and other cheese with a fork. Move mixture to buttered round tart tin.

Bake for 30 minutes, let cool.

This is so good cold the next day! Perfect finger food in honor of a Great Ocean.

Remarks:
I did prefer it with the 50g semolina flour that I used last time
I copied a trick from Joanna at Joanna's Food that I have to use with crusts: I sprinkled some oatmeal flakes on the bottom. Joanna has several fine crust recipes that are very worthwhile.
She lists them again in her new blog An English Kitchen.
Yep, the veggie tart is here to stay all summer.