Wholewheat Herbed Patty Pan Squash Tomato Tart

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This savoury wholewheat Herbed Patty Pan Squash Tomato Tart was made almost by chance. The secret ingredients from my partner Shobha Keshwani for the Facebook group Shhhhh Cooking Secretly Challenge for the August ‘baked dish’ theme were flour and pumpkin or squash and I had planned to bake pumpkin muffins with chocolate chips. 

Pumpkins were not available at the store, not even pumpkin puree and I was getting a little anxious as to whether I would be able to make the dish on time and post the picture so that the other members in the group could try to guess the ingredients. The week’s box from the farm Lakshmi gets her CSA produce from, luckily included yellow patty pan squash and grape tomatoes as well as basil.  I had been wanting to try my hand at a healthy tart crust, the pumpkin muffin plan was shelved and the cheesy herbed Patty pan squash tomato Tart plan came into focus instead.

Shoba Keshwani blogs at Shobha’s Food Mazaa, where you will find more than a 1000 Indian as well as international recipes from Indonesian, Continental and other cuisines. The 2 secret ingredients I listed for Shoba were Cheese and Rosemary, and she made this gorgeous Pull Apart Pizza Monkey Bread.  Do check out the recipe with the step by step pictures for easy guidance.

Back then to the Herbed Patty Pan Squash Tomato Tart. It was pretty easy to make and though its actually the firs time I was making a tart crust from scratch, it was not difficult and was healthy as well as tasty. At one point I thought the crust wouldn’t come out well as I couldn’t shape the folds nicely on top. After it was baked though, it turned out to be flaky and buttery and everything a good crust should be.

I followed the recipe for Summer Squash Tart with Roasted Tomatoes from the ‘This Gal Cooks’ Blog, with a few deviations including mixing the dough by hand instead of in a stand mixer, and some changes in ingredients. I added oats to the whole wheat and all purpose flours of the original recipe for an even healthier crust and added basil and green capsicum (sweet peppers) to the filling. I like herbs in my recipes!

You will love this herbed Patty pan squash Tomato Tart when you try it out. The flavours of the tomatoes and the squash, the basil and the mozzarella cheese gave the tart a summery, fresh taste, making it oh, so delicious! I’m going to be baking tarts quite often now that I am no longer terrified of making the crust!

Kitchen Tips for making the savoury Tart crust:

1. The butter should be really cold when you mix it into the flour.
2. Use ice cold water for mixing the dough and only as much water as is needed to make a firm but supple dough.
3. Refrigerate the dough after it is made, as in the instructions below.

You might like to see these other recipes on this blog:

Olive and Rosemary Focaccia 

Julia Child’s Zucchini Au Gratin

Baked vegetable au gratin

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Herbed Patty Pan Squash Tomato Tart with a Healthy Crust

Simple, savoury, herbed Patty Pan Squash Tomato Tart with a healthy whole wheat and oats crust. Easy even if you are making tart crust for the first time.

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Total Time1 hr 50 mins

Course: Main Dish

Cuisine: American, continental

Servings: 8 slices

Author: Sujata Shukla

Ingredients

Healthy whole wheat and oats Tart crust

• ¼ cup quick cooking oats
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• ½ cup all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (cut into cubes and kept in the fridge)
• 1 egg yolk
• 3 tablespoons Ice water

Herbed Patty Pan Squash Tomato Filling

• ½ cup Mozzarella Cheese (grated)
• 1 cup patty pan squash (thinly sliced into strips or rounds)
• 1 cup cherry or grape tomato (cut into quarters)
• ½ cup capsicum (diced)
• 1 tablespoon garlic (minced)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese (grated) - optional
• 2 tablespoons basil leaves shredded

Egg Wash

• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon water

Instructions

To make the Savoury Tart Crust

• Cut cold butter into cubes and refrigerate till you need to mix it into the flour. Sieve the 2 flours and salt into a mixing bowl, add the oats and whisk it in. Remove the cold butter cubes from the fridge and cut them(or beat with the flat blade of the stand mixie) into the flour till little coarse small crumbs of floury butter are formed. If making the dough by hand, squeeze the butter with your fingers to help it mix with the flour till coarse crumbs are formed.
• Add the egg yolk and mix it into the crumbs of flour and butter, so that the mixture starts coming together. If using a processor or mixie, transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and then proceed as below.
  
• Add ice water, a teaspoon or less at a time and mix till you are able to shape the dough into a ball. Wrap the dough in cling wrap and keep in the fridge for at least 1 hour. I kept mine for 2 hours, but you could do even chill it overnight if you are making the dough a day ahead.
• When you are ready to make the tart: Remove the chilled dough from the fridge and place on a flat clean surface or mat on which you have sprinkled a little flour. Roll the dough into a circle, starting at the centre, till it is about 10 inches in diameter and is of even thickness throughout.

To make the Herbed Patty Pan Squash Tomato Tart

• While the dough is chilling in the fridge, prepare the filling. Slice the patty pan squash into thin long strips or thin circles. Don't peel the rind of the squash away, it contains most of the nutrients. Dice the green pepper (capsicum) and quarter the cherry tomatoes. If using regular tomatoes, cut them into chunks and use firm but ripe tomatoes which are not very juicy, so that the filling does not make the tart soggy. Wash and pat dry the basil leaves and shred them into strips. Grate the mozzarella cheese and the parmesan (if using)
  
• Pre heat the oven to 230 C (450 F) Transfer the rolled out dough to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Cover the dough with a layer of grated mozzarella cheese, leaving a border of about 2 inches all around. Mix the squash, capsicum and tomatoes with a little salt and pepper (to taste) in a bowl. Cover the cheese with the squash, capsicum and cherry tomato slices, keeping the margin of 2" free. Sprinkle minced garlic and then with olive oil. Sprinkle the grated parmesan if using, and half the basil. (reserve half the basil to garnish the tart after it has baked).
• Fold the dough (the 2 inches you had left all around) over the tart from all sides. Beat the egg and teaspoon of water to make an egg wash. Brush the egg wash thinly all over the dough including the sides and the top, without letting the egg drip from the sides.
• Place the tart in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes till the squash is tender and cooked, and the crust is golden. Cool the tart for 10 minutes after removing from the oven, add the reserved basil and then slice for serving.

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