This is a delightfully free-form tart. The pastry is straightforward and very forgiving, and in fact can be made in a food processor as long as you just pulse to bring all the ingredients together. You could add a bit of cinnamon to the filling if you like it’s one of the ingredients in ras el hanout, a Middle Eastern spice blend that is so worth looking out for. If you have some pomegranate seeds, or ‘arils’ as they are properly known, scatter them over the tart just before serving. They’ll finish it off beautifully.
Ingredients
- 350 g white, red or purple sweet potato, peeled and cut into 3 cm chunks
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) extra virgin olive oil
- Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons verjuice
- 2 small bulbs fennel, trimmed and cut into 1 cm thick slices
- 1 tablespoon ras el hanout
- 100 g mozzarella cheese, torn into small pieces
- 3 tablespoons raisins
- 3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
- ½ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
Pastry
- 2 cups (260 g) organic white spelt flour
- 1/3 cup (25 g) finely grated parmesan
- ½ cup (125 ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 2 free-range eggs
- 3 tablespoons iced water
How to Make It
- Preheat the oven to 220°C (fan-forced).
- To make the pastry, place the flour, parmesan, olive oil and eggs in a food processor. Pulse until just combined, then gradually add enough iced water to bring the pastry together. Do not overwork. Turn out onto a workbench, shape into a rectangle, then wrap in plastic film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, toss the sweet potato in a bowl with 2 tablespoons olive oil, then season with salt and pepper. Spread over a baking tray lined with baking paper and roast for 25 minutes. Pour over the verjuice and roast for another 10 minutes or until golden and tender. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C (fan-forced).
- Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a frying pan over low heat. Add the fennel and saute for 12–15 minutes or until tender. Add the ras el hanout and stir for another 1–2 minutes or until fragrant. Remove from the heat.
- Roll out the pastry between 2 sheets of baking paper into a rough rectangle about 3 mm thick. Remove the top sheet of paper, then trim the sides to neaten a little. Place on a baking tray and refrigerate until needed.
- To assemble, toss the cooled sweet potato and half the mozzarella in a bowl and spread over the centre of the pastry, leaving a 6 cm border. Fold up the edges of the tart, pleating where necessary to encase the filling, leaving the middle open. Scatter with the fennel, raisins and pine nuts. Bake for 35–40 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and stand for 10 minutes. Scatter with the chopped parsley and serve with the remaining mozzarella on the side or scattered on top.
