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Donal Skehan
Spring Greens & Ricotta Cheese Tart | DonalSkehan.com
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Spring Greens & Ricotta Cheese Tart

April 01

Take one sheet of store-bought puff pastry and pile it high with lots of delicious spring ingredients and, hey presto, you get these beautiful spring tarts! This is a perfect example of a cheat ingredient meal –  ordinarily puff pastry can be complicated to make from scratch. Here you get all the best bits of a homemade tart in a fraction of the time. Change up the topping depending on what’s in season.

  • serves Serves 4
  • time 40 mins

Method

  1. 1. Preheat the oven the 190C/ 375F.
  2. 2. On a floured surface, using a rolling pin, roll the pastry out to a rectangle approx 18 x 32 cm. Transfer to a baking tray lined with parchment paper and using a table knife slice a border 1 cm in from the edge cutting about half way through. Brush the border with a little of the beaten egg and prick the centre with a fork all over.
  3. 3. Place on top and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes until lightly golden.
  4. 4. While the pastry is baking, in a bowl, beat together the remaining egg, ricotta, pecorino cheese, thyme leaves and lemon zest. Season to taste.
  5. 5. Remove the par baked tart from the oven and using the back of a spoon gently press down the centre and spread the ricotta filling all over evenly before returning to the oven to bake for about 10 minutes or until golden around the edges. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.
  6. 6. In a mixing bowl, toss the topping ingredients until well combined.
  7. 7. Serve the tart with the topping delicately arranged across the tart.

Ingredients

500g frozen puff pastry block, thawed

1 egg, beaten

250g ricotta cheese

50g pecorino cheese, finely grated

Few fresh thyme sprigs

Zest of 1/2 lemon

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the topping:

200g peas, blanched and drained

6 asparagus spears, finely sliced on a mandolin

1 small courgette, finely sliced on a mandolin

Zest & juice of 1/2 lemon

Small handful of pea shoots

Small handful of mint leaves

1 tbsp best quality extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp best quality Balsamic Vinegar

You'll Need

Rolling pin

Baking tray

Parchment paper