Caramelized Garlic Tart

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Caramelized Garlic Tart

This recipe for caramelized garlic tart is hands-down the best I’ve ever eaten.

When I lived in Venice Beach, California, I frequented the Rose Cafe for lunch regularly. The food was excellent and great for vegetarian salads with lentils, quinoa, barley and veggies. It was quite civilized with classical music and local Art adorning the walls. Neighboring Santa Monica folk ate there too and it was a great people watching spot with the odd celebrity popping in for coffee. The place was always packed.

They had a small gift shop with kitschy stuff, cool cards, aprons, fun canvas bags, Chinese tea pots and bowl sets, soaps and lotions, baby gifts and a small selection of new cookbooks. Plenty from Ottolenghi sat on the shelf with it’s beautiful cover of roasted eggplants and buttermilk sauce, studded with pomegranates seeds. I took it down and flicked through the book salivating over every page. The garlic tart caught my attention and I thought, dam! I have to have this book. I purchased a copy and tucked it under my arm as I walked home to my apartment on a lovely tree-lined walk street.

That Christmas I gave that book as a gift to family and friends. The garlic tart was the first recipe I made and although a bit tricky for me, it turned out amazing. The whole combination of flakey crust, creamy, custardy, cheesy, garlic filling is a match made in heaven. I have made this many times over the past years and never felt the need to alter the recipe. However, when frying the blanched garlic cloves make sure you brown them. It reheats well, too.

What you need:

13 oz all-butter puff pastry
3 medium heads of garlic, cloves
separated and peeled
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 cup water
¾ tbsp fine sugar
1 tsp chopped rosemary
1 tsp chopped thyme, plus a few whole
sprigs to finish
4 ¼ oz soft, creamy goat’s cheese
4 ¼ oz hard, mature goat’s cheese
2 free-range eggs
6 1/2 tbsp heavy cream
6 1/2 tbsp crème fraîche
salt and black pepper

PREPARATION

Use a loose-bottom 11 – inch tart tin

Roll the puff pastry into a circle and line the tart tin bottom and sides with the pastry. Place a large circle of greaseproof paper on the bottom and fill with a layer of baking beans or rice. Place the tart into the fridge for about 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350°F and bake the pastry case for 20 minutes, remove both the beans and paper and bake for another 5 minutes so the pastry is cooked and golden but not over-browned. Remove from the oven and leave to one side
While the tart case is cooking, place the garlic cloves in a small saucepan. Cover with cold water and bring to a gentle simmer, cook for 3 minutes then drain through a colander or sieve.
Wipe the saucepan dry then add the cloves and olive oil and fry on a high heat for 2 minutes and no more. Add the balsamic vinegar, water and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes add the sugar, rosemary, chopped thyme and ¼ teaspoon salt and continue to cook on a medium heat for a further 10 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated and the garlic cloves are coated in a dark caramel syrup. Set aside.
To assemble the tart: break both goat’s cheeses into pieces and scatter in the pastry case and spoon over the garlic and any syrup.
Whisk together the eggs, creams, ½ teaspoon salt and some black pepper in a jug. Pour over the garlic and cheeses making sure that you can still see both on the surface.
Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the tart filling has set and the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool a little then take out of tin, lay a few sprigs of thyme on top and serve warm with a nice salad.

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PREPARATION

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