Smoked Salmon, Tomato, Fennel, Spring Onion and Herbed Marscapone Tart

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Serves 4

Allow 2 hours total preparation and cooking time.

This is a quiche type of tart, packed full of vegetables as the base for smoked salmon and best served with french dressed green salad.

I have made a lot of tarts this year and usually substituting puff pastry for one of the vegan or vegetarian recipes under Miscellaneous. 

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My family eat a lot of vegan and vegetarian dishes, this one is a little bit extravagant and a nice alternative to some of the traditional seasonal fayre.

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Ingredients

• 1 large fennel bulb (or 2 small ones), washed, core removed and finely sliced
  
• Bunch of spring onions, trimmed and sliced diagnonally
  
• 2 lemons, reserve the juice of one and cut the second into quarters
  
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
  
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  
• 3 eggs
  
• 250g mascarpone
  
• 70g grated cheddar cheese
  
• Small punnet of cherry tomatoes, washed and halved (use 200g for the tart itself)
  
• 4 ounces thinly sliced smoked salmon
  
• 3 teaspoons capers, drained
  
• Small sprigs of parsley

• For the Pastry:

• You can use either ready made Shortcrust or Puff Pastry if you prefer.
  
• We used Olive Oil Savoury Crust Pastry

AND THIS IS WHAT YOU DO.....

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1. Pre-heat the oven to 190C .
   
   
2. If using the Olive Oil Savoury Crust Pastry, the tart case will need to bake blind for 15 minutes.
   
   
3. Slice the fennel very thinly, discarding discoloured outer leaves and cutting out the core, then place in a bowl.
   
   
4. Take the bunch of spring onions, trim both ends and then cut diagonally and add to the fennel.
   
   
5. Add the juice of one lemon plus three tablespoons of olive oil and seasoning, toss with the fennel and spring onions and leave to marinade for up to two hours.   Now set aside.  If done the day before, you will need to cover in cling film before storing in the fridge.
   
   
6. Take a large mixing bowl and add the three eggs plus the tub of Marscapone cheese and seasoning and whisk thoroughly.
   
   
7. Add the grated cheddar cheese and whisk again and set aside until needed.
   
   
8. Removed the blind baked flan case from the oven and spoon the marinade vegetables into the tart and top with halved cherry tomatoes, spread evenly.
   
   
9. Now pour the egg and Marscapone mixture over the vegetables and bake in the oven for between 20 - 30 minutes.  Check at five minute intervals and use a clean knife to determine when the centre of the mixture is firm.
   
   
10. Remove the tart from the oven and place strips of smoked salmon in small heaps around the top of the tart and finally drop the drained capers in between.
    
    
11. You can now add a further garnish of fresh sprigs of parsley.
    
    
12. Serve with quarters of lemon to squeeze over the fish and present this with a green salad with a french vinaigrette dressing.