Goats Cheese & Roasted Grapes Tart with Parmesan Crust Pastry

Hello!

How's everyone enjoying their weekend? 

As for myself, I spent it catching with uni friends for dinner on Friday, going for coffee with a friend on Saturday and then another family dinner (baby shower and cousin's belated birthday) on Sunday night. Spending lots of quality time with close friends and family really is the ideal weekend for me. Once upon a time, I used to be one for going out late every night but not anymore, no thanks. Nothing crazy, nothing too hectic. Gives me time to run my errands on the weekends too. Geez, how old do I sound? 

Anyway, I first tasted this tart that my friend Shellie made when I was at Daylesford earlier in the year attending a food photography workshop that she and Ewen was running. Fantastic weekend. First of all, it looked absolutely drop dead gorgeous as soon as she laid it on the table. Once we took our first bite, our eyes completely lit up and almost felt like the world had stopped for a quick second. It was sensational in every sense of the word.

I knew then and there that I HAD to recreate this tart at home too. I loved the sharp and garlicky flavour of the creamy cheese which was balanced absolutely perfectly with the sweet, caramelised, roasted grapes. This combination was unreal. To finish off, that parmesan crust pastry was seriously the best thing ever. So crumbly and flavourful it complemented the flavours of the filling so damn well. I've definitely found a favourite savoury pastry crust with this one and will be making it a lot in the future too.

Right, I'm getting hungry just describing the tart. Trust me when I say this is good. Hope you get a chance to make it too.

This was the one that Shellie made at the workshop... Life changing ;p

Goats Cheese & Roasted Grapes Tart with Parmesan Crust Pastry 

(adapted from this recipe by Iron Chef Shellie)

Click here to print the recipe

Ingredients:

Parmesan Pastry

125g butter, unsalted 

1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil 

4 1/2 tbsp water 

2 pinches of salt 

1 1/2 cup plain 

1/3 cup parmesan cheese, shredded 

1/3 tsp black pepper 

Roasted Grapes

Few bunches of seedless red grapes 

1 tbsp olive oil 

Salt and pepper 

Goat Cheese Filling

3/4 clove garlic 

1 1/2 tbsp fresh rosemary 

320g goat cheese  

1/4 cup thickened cream

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil 

3 tsp fresh lemon juice 

A few tablespoons of water 

Salt and pepper to taste 

Method:

Parmesan Pastry

1. Preheat the oven to 210ºC. In a medium size oven-proof bowl or dish, add the butter, oil, water, and salt. 

2. Place the bowl into the oven for 15 minutes. Wear oven mitts, possibly a long sleeve shirt, and hold the bowl away from your face, when removing from the oven, as the butter may splatter. Place the bowl onto the counter, with a pot holder or towel underneath. 

3. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, shredded parmesan cheese, and black pepper. Slowly stir the flour mixture into the hot butter. It is important to still be cautious of the hot butter, it may still pop when you add the first bit of flour. Also, remember that the bowl is very hot, so wearing oven mitts while stirring is ideal. Stir the mixture until combined. Let it sit and cool for 5 minutes. 

4. Once the dough is cool enough to handle, press the dough flat with your fingers and up the sides of a tart pan/mould. Prick the shell with a fork 10 or so times. Once you have finished forming the tart shell, place the tart shells onto a baking sheet and place in the oven on the middle rack. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.  

Roasted Grapes

1. After baking the tart, turn the oven to 200°C. Arrange the bunches of grapes in a single layer on a baking tray lined with baking paper. 

2. Toss with the olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. 

3. Roast for 15-20 minutes, until the grapes begin to burst and the juice around them starts to thicken. Remove and set aside for later.

Goat Cheese Filling

1. While the tart shells are cooling and grapes are in the oven, make the filling. In a food processor, add the garlic and the rosemary. Pulse several times to chop/mince finely. 

2. Then, add the goat cheese, cream, olive oil and lemon juice. Blend until smooth and creamy, adding as much water as necessary to keep it moving and to make it creamy, but make sure not to add more than 1/4 cup. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

3. Once the tart shell has cooled and grapes are roasted, pour the goat cheese filling into the tart shell. Smooth the surface with a spatula, if necessary. Finally, add the roasted grapes from earlier. Enjoy.