Garden Veggies Tart

I love tarts, and this is a real winner as it is so light and fresh! Packed with seasonal summer veggies, this is a great way to use up leaves that would normally go to waste, such as beet leaves or overgrown spinach and kale. Be patient with the pastry, its delicate to work with but results in a lovely flaky shortcrust.

Serves 4

Ingredients

Pastry

200g plain white flour

50g sunflower oil

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp finely chopped thyme and rosemary (optional)

Filling

1 onion

1 clove garlic

1 tin haricot beans

1 tsp vegetable bouillon powder

1 tsp cornflour (or plain flour is fine)

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

100ml water

250 garden greens (kale, chard, spinach, beet leaves)

Handful fresh parsley

150g green beans (runner, french, dwarf)

Topping

1/2 red pepper

50g sun dried tomatoes

25g pine nuts

Handful Fresh Basil

Method

1. Add the flour, baking powder and herbs to a bowl with a pinch of salt. Using a spoon, mix in the oil to a breadcrumb consistency. Then add about 5 tbsp cold water, a few at a time, to gently bring the pastry together, careful not to over-mix. Use your hands to compact into a ball, and chill in the fridge for 30 mins.

2. Finely dice the onion and add to a heated pan with a little oil. Soften for a few minutes before adding the garlic, finely chopped.

3. Add in the haricot beans and their liquid, along with the bouillon, cornflour, mustard and water. Allow to simmer, and meanwhile finely chop the leaves and parsley, and finely slice the green beans. Add into the pan and mix to wilt the leaves, but then take off the heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

4. For the topping, finely chop the pepper, tomatoes and basil and mix together with the pine nuts. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celcius.

6. Take the pastry out of the fridge, roll out on a floured surface and use it to line a 20cm tart tin. Add the filling and level out, then spoon the topping on. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

7. Serve hot.