Sweet Potato, Red Onion & Fontina Tart

From EatingWell: November/December 2009 — Subscribe Now!

Try this roasted-vegetable free-form tart as an appetizer or side dish for a special dinner or as a vegetarian main dish. The pastry dough is very forgiving and quite easy to roll out on parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. The walnut-studded crust is crisper served warm, but you can enjoy the tart at room temperature or cold too.

READER'S COMMENT:

"Besides monitoring the moistness of the dough, I think the dough is too sturdy for a galette shape with large foldovers. The second time I made it more of a conventional tart crust with thin edges and it was much better - not so heavy. "

Sweet Potato, Red Onion & Fontina Tart Recipe

12 servings

Active Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 3/4 hours

Nutrition Profile

Ingredients

Crust

3/4 cup walnuts
1 1/4 cups whole-wheat pastry flour (see Note)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme and/or rosemary
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
7 tablespoons ice-cold water

Filling

1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced red onion
1 cup shredded fontina or Cheddar cheese
1 large egg white mixed with 1 teaspoon water
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme and/or rosemary

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425°F.
To prepare crust: Pulse walnuts in a food processor until finely ground. Combine in a large bowl with whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons thyme and/or rosemary, 3/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Make a well in the center and add 1/2 cup oil and water. Gradually stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients to form a soft dough (it will seem wetter than other types of pastry dough). Knead in the bowl just until the dough comes together. Pat it into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes or up to 3 days.
To prepare filling: Combine sweet potatoes, 1 tablespoon oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl. Spread on three-fourths of a large rimmed baking sheet. Toss onion in the bowl with 1 teaspoon oil. Spread evenly on the remaining one-fourth of the baking sheet. Roast for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven. Reduce temperature to 375°.
Line a work surface with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat, lightly dust with flour and dust the top of the dough with flour. Roll the dough into a rustic 15-inch circle, adding more flour, if necessary, to prevent sticking. Transfer the crust to a baking sheet with the parchment or baking mat in place.
Leaving a 2-inch border, sprinkle cheese evenly over the crust. Make an overlapping ring of the larger sweet potato slices over the cheese, leaving the 2-inch border. Spread the onion slices in another ring closer to the center. Using the rest of the sweet potato slices, make an overlapping circle in the center of the crust (the pattern will look like a bull’s-eye). Pick up the edges of the crust using a spatula and fold over the filling, making pleats in the dough as necessary; the filling will not be completely covered. Brush the crust with the egg-white wash. Drizzle the vegetables with the remaining 1 teaspoon oil and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon thyme and/or rosemary.
Bake the tart until lightly browned on the edges, about 50 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before slicing.

Tips & Notes

Make Ahead Tip: Prepare the crust (Step 2), wrap tightly and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 6 months. Cool, cover and refrigerate the baked tart for up to 1 day. Reheat at 350

Ingredient Note: Whole-wheat pastry flour has less gluten-forming potential than regular whole-wheat flour and helps ensure tender baked goods. Find it in the baking section of the supermarket or online at bobsredmill.com and kingarthurflour.com.