Provençal fennel and goat’s cheese tart
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 1 to 2 hours
- Serve
- Serves 6–8
Brimming with the sunny flavours of Provence, this savoury tart combines meltingly soft braised fennel with sweet cherry tomatoes, briny black olives, punchy capers and creamy fresh goat’s cheese. Serve warm or at room temperature alongside a crisp baby gem salad for a light, effortlessly elegant meal.
Ingredients
For the fennel
For the tart
- 1 cooked 23cm/9in tart shell, shop bought
- 4 medium free-range eggs
- 150ml/5fl oz whole milk
- 300ml/10fl oz double cream
- 150g/5½oz cherry tomatoes, halved
- 100g/3½oz black olives, halved
- 2 tbsp capers
- 250g/9oz goat’s cheese
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
To serve
- 2 baby gem lettuces
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 30g/1oz goat’s cheese, frozen, for grating
Method
To make the fennel, cut the fennel bulbs into wedges.
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the fennel wedges until coloured on all sides.
Add the garlic, tarragon, bay leaves, thyme, vermouth, butter, lemon zest and vegetable stock. Cover with a circle of baking paper and cook gently for 1 hour, or until the fennel is soft.
Remove the fennel from the pan. Boil the cooking liquor until reduced to a glaze, then spoon it over the fennel. Set aside.
To make the filling, whisk the eggs, milk and cream together in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
Preheat the oven to 150C/130C Fan/Gas 2.
To assemble the tart, put the fennel in the base of the cooked tart shell and spoon over any cooking juices.
Scatter over the tomatoes, olives and capers. Slice the goat’s cheese and arrange it over the top.
Pour in the egg mixture and bake for about 30 minutes, or until just set.
Leave the tart to cool slightly, then serve warm or at room temperature with a baby gem salad. Grate over a little frozen goat’s cheese, if using.
