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Roast Vegetable Tartlet with Herbed Chickpea Crust

I love this recipe. It was inspired by a delicious deep-dish vegetable pie I had in Adelaide last year at vegan restaurant Pollen 185. The chef there told me how she had played around with the crust recipe for weeks before perfecting it, and then very generously passed that onto me. I’ve tinkered a little with it myself, but the deliciously crumbly texture remains the same. Fill it with whatever you want – I’ve gone for nutrient dense pumpkin and beets, but you can literally throw anything in there. Turn it into a quiche by pouring in whisked eggs into the crust.

Chickpea flour is made from either raw or roasted chickpeas, milled finely. It contains a higher proportion of protein than many others. It’s also
gluten free, making it a great flour alternative for anyone who suffers from gluten intolerance. It’s also mighty tasty. Grab some at your local health food store and let’s get baking!

Recipe

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SERVES: 4-6

INGREDIENTS:

For the Crust:

  • 2 cups chickpea (besan) flour
  • 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tbsp mixed dried herbs
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • water

Filling:

  • 1 cup roasted beetroot, sliced
  • 1 cup steamed pumpkin
  • 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 teaspoon chilli salt (optional) or 1 tsp dried chilli + 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1 cup spinach leaves

Garnish:

  • 1 bunch vine-ripened cherry tomatoes
  • balsamic glaze
  • fresh basil leaves

 

This recipe was originally written for + published in Nourish Magazine.

METHOD:

 

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.
  2. Make the crust by blending the flour and salt together in a food processor.
  3. With the motor running, add the olive oil and process until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.
  4. Add just enough water to form a malleable, slightly sticky dough.
  5. Roll out the pastry as needed on a floured board, or between two pieces of cling wrap.
  6. To bake a blind (before adding a filling): prick all over the pastry with a fork, cover the pastry with a layer of foil and place either pastry weights or some dry beans or rice on the foil.
  7. Bake at 180C for 15 minutes, remove from oven, take off the foil and leave to cool, before proceeding with the filling.
  8. Make the filling by mashing the pumpkin with the nutritional yeast and chilli salt.
  9. Lay roasted beet slices into the bottom of the golden crust, then cover in spinach leaves.
  10. Top with mashed pumpkin, and lay over the cherry tomatoes.
  11. Bake for 20-30 minutes until tomatoes have started to blister.
  12. Remove tart and allow to cool. Drizzle over balsamic glaze and top with a few fresh basil leaves.
  13. Slice and serve with a side salad.

Sally O'Neil - Editor in Chief

Sal is on a mission to prove that healthy and nutritious doesn’t have to be boring – and that even while staying in shape you can have your cake and eat it too. After losing 14kg from adopting a healthier lifestyle, she shares her journey with others on The Fit Foodie Blog. She also works as a commercial food photographer and stylist, is studying a Bachelor of Health Science in Nutrition and Dietetics, and is the author of two cookbooks: Love Move Eat (Bauer Media, 2017) and Meal Prep Plan (Murdoch, 2019).

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