4 October, 2007
Fennel & Cherry Tomato, Balsamic Crust Tart with Macadamia Cheese
From Issue 2 of News From The Kitchen.
Makes 8, 11cm tarts.
For the base
2c cashews
½c pine nuts
2T flax meal
2t Italian seasoning
1 clove crushed garlic
1T nutritional yeast
1T olive oil
1t balsamic vinegar
½t salt
3T water
-Grind all ingredients in a food processor until thoroughly mixed, leaving some texture to the nuts.
-Press into plastic film lined individual tart cases so you have a thin crust. You will find that regularly dipping your fingers in a bowl of water helps with this.
-Place bases onto a mesh dehydrator sheet and dehydrate at 115 degrees F for 2 hours. They should now be firm enough to remove from the tart cases so you can continue to dehydrate them for a further 6 hours.
For the tomatoes
3c cherry tomatoes on the vine
3T olive oil
2T basil
½t salt
-Slice the tomatoes and marinade in the olive oil and salt for at least an hour, or overnight.
-Transfer to Paraflexx dehydrator sheet and dehydrate at 115 degrees F for 1 hour.
For the macadamia cheese
1c macadamias
1T lemon juice
1T nutritional yeast
2T onion
½t salt
-Process all ingredients in a food processor until fluffy.
For the fennel
1c fennel
3T olive oil
1T nama shoyu
2T agave nectar
-Thinly slice fennel on a mandoline and marinade in remaining ingredients for at least an hour, or overnight.
-Transfer to Paraflexx sheet and dehydrate for 1 hour.
Assembly
-Arrange a layer of fennel in the bottom of the tart case. Top this with the tomatoes and crumbles of cheese.
Popularity: 34% [?]
brilliant! could i use the same marinating technique on onions to make a onion and “goat” cheese tart? this looks very yummy!
Beth on / 5 October, 2007
Hi Beth, yes you could. That’s what I did here
Russell James on / 7 October, 2007
This looks delicious! As I’m the only person in my family who eats raw, and the base mixture is quite hard to reduce in quantity, I was wondering if it is possible to make a batch and freeze the bases til required? Thanks.
Lisa on / 20 October, 2007
Hi Lisa,
Yes that’s completely possible. You could also halve the base recipe, which should work to produce 4 tarts. But the great thing about the tart bases is that you can use them up by getting creative and fill them with whatever takes your fancy.
Russell James on / 21 October, 2007
I made these 2 weeks ago and impressed my very traditional Italian in laws. They were amazed by these tarts and did not quite believe me when I told them it was raw. I served them as an appetizer/first course they were perfect. Thank you! :) xo Dea
Dea on / 22 October, 2007
Where can I get the tart moulds from that would go into a dehydrator? Thankyou***
Emma on / 22 October, 2007
Hi Emma, any tart case bought from a cookshop will work fine.
Russell James on / 26 October, 2007
what kind of dehydrator do you use?I use the excaliber is it a big difference using a different dehydrator then any other brand?
Sarah on / 6 December, 2007
Russell,
I’ve made these a few times (sooooo delicious!) but have been having trouble with the crusts. They turn out VERY oily and don’t hold their shape when I turn them onto the mesh. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Oh, and fabulous job, by the way. Your creations never fail to amaze me!
From Russell: Thanks, Carmella. Try leaving them in the shells for longer than 2 hours, that should sort the issue with holding the shape when turning them out, that way they’ll be firmer.
As for the oilyness, I would say that maybe you need to process the pine nuts for less time, as they may be giving off their oil and once they do that there’s no way of getting in back in - just pulse them in if you haven’t already.
Carmella on / 5 March, 2008
I used to do a lot of raw foods, never seen anything like this. Looks so great, you have quite a talent.
Chef Erik on / 11 April, 2008