Almond, Spinach and Goat Cheese Tart

This weekend I had a hankering to make a Spanish Almond Tart, but Spanish Almonds were not available in my “super”market. So I had to have a change of tart.
I’m sorry, I really did just say that.

What the heck is a “tart” anyway? Sometimes they’re sweet, sometimes they’re savory. Do they need to be round? Does the crust need to envelope the sides? As with all matters entomological, I resort to Wikipedia, the ultimate authority of combined, if not authoritative, knowledge. According to the Wiki entry:

“A tart is a pastry dish, usually sweet, similar to a pie, but different in that the top is open and not covered with pastry. A tart can also refer to a woman who flirts with a sexual edge.”

Now, not that I’m any authority on this, but how exactly does one flirt with any other kind of edge? I mean, flirting with a serrated edge, for instance, sounds downright dangerous unless of course you’re flirting with a tomato and then it sounds just about right.

In any case, regarding the tart: I’m giving you free license to make it any way you’d like; you can have a change of tart as many times as you want, really. I used puff pastry for it’s show-off-y edges but you can use a shortbread or pie crust (just don’t put on a top.) I filled mine with spinach, parsley and tomatoes, but spinach and raisins would be nice too (The Li’l Sis has a thing against sweet-savory dishes, so my hands were tied on that one.)

My recipe makes a rather light and elegant tart, perfect for lunch, or a dinner eaten while the sun is still in the sky. I suggest paring it with a salad, maybe with artichokes… but you can do whatever you’d like.

Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Serves: 5 - 6

Almond, Spinach and Goat Cheese Tart

crust (see below)
2 bunches of spinach (I use regular spinach, not baby spinach, because it has more flavor)
1 bunch parsley
salt, pepper
nutmeg
2/3 cup of melted butter
1.5 cups almonds. I used blanched and sliced.
2 tomatoes, thinly sliced
4 oz herbed goat cheese

Prepare the spinach: thoroughly wash and drain the spinach and chop it roughly. Wilt it in a large pan over low heat. I find that the water clinging to the spinach after washing it and spinning it in a salad spinner is enough to wilt the spinach without burning it. You want to make sure not to have too much water, or your tart will get all soggy.
Wash, drain, and chop the parsley. Wilt it with the spinach. Season the greens with salt, pepper, and a little nutmeg.

Prepare the almonds: dry roast the almonds in a sauté pan over low heat, stirring often to prevent burn areas. Roast until golden.

Assemble the tart: I used 2 small loaf pans and 1/2 (20 layers) a double box of 9″ x 14″ phyllo dough. Oil your pans first.
Working with phyllo can be tricky (you have to brush each flimsy layer with butter while keeping them moist with a towel) but it’s actually very forgiving and, of course, all the butter makes it very lush and forbidden tasting. Brush 10 layers first, restack in a rectangle and then sort of stuff the layers into the loaf pan. Add the toppings, and put in the oven to bake before repeating with the last 10 layers and other loaf pan.

To top: 1 layer of spinach (1/4 your total amount), 1/2 a sliced tomato, 1/4 of the almonds, 1/2 the cheese, another layer of spinach, the rest of a sliced tomato, and another 1/4 of the almonds.

Bake the tarts in a 350 degree oven for 30 - 40 minutes depending on your crust type.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 21st, 2007 at 2:01 pm and is filed under Casseroles & Baked, Winter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.