Two-potato tart

It’s quite special to see a potato dug up in front of you, pulled from the rust-coloured dirt and shaken to reveal its rugged skin. Sometimes the flesh is cream, sometimes red and sometimes bright purple. And each and every variety has its own ideal way of being cooked. Some prefer baking, others boiling and some are just perfect for making delicious, creamy, provincial tarts like this one, which uses Dutch Cream and Cranberry Red, two perfectly paired potatoes that keep their colour through cooking and complement each other with their golden and purple hues.

Credit: Lean Timms

• serves

  6

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  50 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 2 French shallots, thinly sliced
• 1 egg
• 100 ml milk
• 150 ml thickened cream
• 250 g firm, medium-flavoured cheese, grated (see Note)
• 2 tsp chopped rosemary leaves
• 2 tsp thyme leaves
• sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to season
• 3 Dutch Cream potatoes, unpeeled, thinly sliced
• 3 Cranberry Red potatoes, unpeeled, thinly sliced

Pastry

• 250 g (1⅔ cups) plain flour
• pinch of sea salt flakes
• 125 g cold unsalted butter, chopped
• 1 egg
• 75 ml iced water

Cooling time 5 minutes

Chilling time 1 hour

Instructions

To make the pastry, combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter, rubbing and working it in with your fingertips, until the mixture feels like breadcrumbs. (Alternatively, pulse in a food processor.) Lightly whisk the egg and water in a bowl, then add to the flour mixture. Still using your fingers, mix until it forms a ball. Wrap the pastry in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pastry until roughly 30 cm diameter and 3–5 mm thick. Place over a 24 cm tart tin and gently press into the base and sides of the tin. Trim the edges, then freeze for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.

To make the filling, heat the olive oil in a small frying pan over medium high heat. Add the garlic and shallots, and cook, stirring, for 3–4 minutes or until fragrant and slightly golden. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, whisk the egg, milk and cream. Add the shallot mixture, grated cheese, chopped herbs and a good sprinkle of salt and pepper to taste.

Remove the pastry case from the freezer and pour in one-third of the egg mixture to just cover the base. Layer the potatoes in an alternate pattern to fill the pastry case. Pour the remaining egg mixture over the top of the potatoes, making sure to evenly spread the cheese.

Bake the tart for 40–45 minutes or until golden brown and the potato feels tender when pierced with a fork. Cool for 5 minutes, then serve warm or at room temperature.

Note

• I used a local cheddar, but gruyere would also work really well here.

Recipe from lean + meadow by Lean Timms, with photographs by Lean Timms.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.