From Claus Meyer’s kitchen to yours; this Spinach Tart with Cottage Cheese will satisfy your comfort food craving. If you want more greenery with your tarts, serve with a small salad on the side. You can also choose to make the tart a day ahead and serve it cold for lunch or as an accompaniment to a main course.
Ingredients
Pastry
¾ cup Öland or organic wholegrain wheat flour, plus extra for dusting
½ cup oat flour
½ cup rye flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1⁄3 cup standard canola oil, plus extra for greasing
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup low fat plain yogurt
Filling
1½ cups cottage cheese
1 cup low fat milk
3 organic eggs
3 gratings of nutmeg
sea salt flakes and freshly ground pepper
2 teaspoons butter
1 lb 2 oz fresh spinach leaves, washed and drained
1 shallot
1⁄3 cup grated hard cheese
To finish
1 shallot
1 handful of fresh herbs (Claus Meyer recommends sweet woodruff, chervil, & sweet cicely)
a few drops of apple cider vinegar
a few drops of cold-pressed canola oil
Directions
First make the pastry. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl to make a dough. Seal the dough in plastic wrap and let rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Mix the cottage cheese, milk, eggs, nutmeg, salt, and pepper together in a bowl to a smooth paste.
Melt the butter in a saucepan and briefly sauté the spinach, just until it starts to collapse and release its liquid. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the spinach to a sieve and strain off the liquid
Roll the pastry dough out into a thin layer on a floured work surface, then transfer it to a tart pan 1 1/4-inches deep with a diameter of 9 1/2 to 10 1/2 inches, and greased with canola oil. Press the dough firmly into the dish and trim the excess dough from around the edge.
Put the drained spinach into the pastry crust and cover with the cottage cheese paste. Peel and slice the shallot into very thin rings, then spread over the top of the paste. Lastly, scatter the grated cheese evenly over the tart.
Bake the tart on the bottom rack of a preheated oven at 325 to 350°F for 30 to 35 minutes until the filling has set. The tart should be light golden on the top and the pastry crust baked through.
Just before serving, peel and cut the other shallot into thin rings, then toss with the freshly torn herbs in the vinegar and canola oil, just to give them a bit of shine.
To Serve
Arrange the shallot and herb mixture on top of the tart and serve warm.
Recipe from ‘The Nordic Kitchen’ by Claus Meyer (Mitchell Beazley)
