Artichoke, Cheese and Pea  Tart

Serves 4

Preparation:  30 minutes

Cooking Time: c. 45 minutes

Cuisine: Vegan/Vegetarian

This was inspired by a Guest Recipe from BBC Good Food.    We think it is best served piping hot and happened to also serve garlic baked potatoes and cauliflower cheese - which made this the most scrumptious meal!

You could use a mix of peas, broad beans and edame beans for the filling (half a cup of each) or

you could simply just use two large leeks, chopped and sautéed - there is an endless variety of veg combinations

you can use for this.

The Savoury Pastry, link given below) is light, slightly crunchy and our personal favourite - gluten free, vegan.



Ingredients

• 250g shortcrust pastry - or you can use

Gluten-free Savoury Pastry

with Rice, Cornmeal and Potato Flour - you could even add Parmesan into the mix for extra flavour

• 1 cup of petit peas, we used frozen (you could combine half a cup each of frozen peas, broad beans and edame beans
• (you would need to boil the broad beans and edame beans for about ten minutes to soften them before adding to the tart)
• 1 heaped teaspoon English mustard powder
• Salt and black pepper
• 250g grated Cheddar Cheese (or for milder version use 250g tub ricotta) or VEGAN cheese
  
• 250g creme frâiche or Elmlea Vegan Cream
  
• 2 eggs, beaten
  
• 390g can or jar artichoke hearts, drained and halved (optional) or use 2 leeks instead, washed, chopped and sautéed until soft in a little oil.
• One tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves to garnish on top of tart

AND THIS IS WHAT YOU DO...

1. Pre-heat the oven to 190C / Gas 5.
   
   
2. Roll out the pastry and line a 28cm tart tin.   Chill for about 20 minutes.   (Please note with the vegan pastry you can mix all the ingredients in a food processor and then simply using your knuckles, spread this into an 11' flan dish and up the sides, and bake for 15 mins at 180C Fan before adding the filling.
   
   
3. Cook the broad/edame beans for 5-10 minutes in a pan of boiling water.   Drain and refresh under cold water.   If using fresh broad beans, peel off the outer layer and place peeled beans to one side.
   
   
4. Line the tart with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans (or prick base with fork) and bake for 10 - 15 mins.      Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 180C / Gas 4.
   
   
5. To make the filling - mix the grated cheddar and creme frâiche/cream with the beaten eggs.
   
   
6. Stir in the powdered English mustard and seasoning.
   
   
7. Place the peas ? beans into the pastry case, as shown above, and then pour the mixture over the tart case.
   
   
8. Finally place the artichoke hearts on top and garnish with fresh thyme leaves..
   
   
9. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes, remove and serve hot with baked potatoes and your favourite veg.   We had cauliflower cheese and the combination was scrummy!