Name: Vegetarian tart
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 90 min
Total time: 135 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 2 sheets shortcrust pastry; ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra, to grease; ½ butternut pumpkin, peeled, cut into 4cm pieces; Sea-salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to season; 2 cups (150g) coarsely grated vintage cheddar cheese; 3 tsp hot English mustard; 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped; 1 brown onion, finely chopped; 350g mixed mushrooms, sliced; 1 Tbsp finely chopped rosemary or sage leaves; 2 tsp smoked paprika; 200g baby spinach leaves; ⅓ cup roughly chopped dried figs; 1 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped; Finely grated zest of 1 lemon; 1 bunch chives, finely chopped

Raid and roast your vegie patch and herb garden for this vibrant work of ‘tart’, which packs in all the flavours – pumpkin, mushies, cheese, even mustard. Bonus, the pastry is store-bought!

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Ingredients

2 sheets shortcrust pastry

⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra, to grease

½ butternut pumpkin, peeled, cut into 4cm pieces

Sea-salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to season

2 cups (150g) coarsely grated vintage cheddar cheese

3 tsp hot English mustard

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 brown onion, finely chopped

350g mixed mushrooms, sliced

1 Tbsp finely chopped rosemary or sage leaves

2 tsp smoked paprika

200g baby spinach leaves

⅓ cup roughly chopped dried figs

1 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

1 bunch chives, finely chopped

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C fan-forced (200°C conventional). Line an oven tray with baking paper. Stack pastry sheets. Roll out pastry between 2 sheets of baking paper to 35cm in diameter. Lightly grease a 25 x 4cm deep fluted, loose-bottomed tart pan. Line pan with pastry, trimming away any excess. Using a fork, prick pastry base. Freeze for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, put pumpkin on prepared tray. Drizzle with half of the oil, season and toss to coat. Roast in oven for 30 minutes or until tender.

Scrunch up a large piece of baking paper and line pastry base. Fill with baking beans or uncooked rice. Blind bake for 20 minutes, then remove baking beans or rice. Reduce oven to 160°C fan-forced (180°C conventional), return tart shell to oven and bake for 15 more minutes or until golden and cooked. Remove from oven and set aside.

Transfer pumpkin to a saucepan and roughly mash. Add cheese and mustard and half the garlic. Season to taste. Keep warm over low heat, stirring occasionally.

Heat remaining oil in a frying pan on medium. Add onion and cook for 3 minutes or until starting to soften. Add mushrooms, remaining garlic, rosemary and paprika. Cook, stirring, for 6-8 minutes until golden. Add spinach leaves. Cook for 1-2 minutes until wilted. Stir in figs and walnuts to combine.

To serve, transfer warm pumpkin mixture to tart base and smooth the surface. Top with mushroom mixture and garnish with lemon zest and chives.