I love roasting root vegetables as it brings out all their natural sweetness. This tarte tartin starts out with roasted root vegetables which are then set into a bed of balsamic caramel, topped with herbs and cheese and covered with pastry. The result is absolutely delicious. This is a great meal for fussy vegetarians, or as a side dish with a Sunday roast. In a similar theme to my vegetable crumble, this is a traditional dessert recipe that is converted into a flavorsome savory meal with vegetables. I used potatoes, onions and carrots, but I imagine this recipe would be equally tasty with parsnip/ beetroot/ sweet potato. This dish looks a picture, but it’s pretty simple to pull together. It tastes scrumptious with a simple green salad.
Ingredients
- 6 Baby potatoes – yellow, red and purple, cut into half inch rounds
- 2 large carrots, cut into half inch rounds
- 2 shallots cut into thick rounds
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup/ 50g of sugar
- 2 tablespoons of water
- 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- some freshly ground pepper
- 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced into thin slivers
- 1 tablespoon of fresh mixed herbs (basil, thyme and oregano)
- 40g / ½ cup of grated Gruyere or cheddar
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
Pastry
- 1 sheet of store bought puff pastry /short crust pastry
Method
Begin by preheating the oven to 400F/ 200C. Toss the chopped potatoes, carrots and shallots in the olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Place the oiled vegetables on a baking sheet in a single layer. Cook for 20 minutes, until just tender. Remove them from the oven and leave to cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 350F / 180C.
Meanwhile, heat the sugar and the water in a skillet pan. Swill the water and sugar together from time to time. After about 5-7 minutes, the sugar will start to caramelize and turn a deep copper color. As soon as this happens, take it off the heat and add the balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Now, that the skillet is off the heat, scatter the herbs and garlic slivers on top of the caramel. Then carefully arrange the cooled vegetables on top of the caramel too. Sprinkle the grated cheese over the vegetables.
Roll out the pastry on a floured surface so that is big enough to fit as a lid on the skillet. Carefully place the sheet of pastry on top of the gated cheese. Tuck the edges of the pastry in. Brush the pastry with some beaten egg wash.
Place the tarte tartin in the preheated oven. Cook for 30-45 minutes, until golden brown on top. Once cooked, remove from the oven and carefully invert the tarte tartin onto a board or serving plate. Replace any vegetables that get stuck in in the pan. Serve with a green salad.
