April 25, 2018

Savory Spinach Mushroom Tart With Potato Crust

Can you believe that I spent quite some time pondering how to call this beauty? I went back and forth between tart and quiche, looked at definitions, and finally decided that it could be either one – which didn’t help! Fact is, no matter how you want to call it, it’s absolutely scrumptious and makes your taste buds happy. Flavorful herbs give this gluten free dish a wonderful Mediterranean character that will make you think of summer, sun, and all the good things.

Remember to soak cashews overnight or for at least 4 hours!

You will need:

high speed blender for the cashew cheese sauce
12 inch (30 cm) round baking dish. Quiche dish is perfect.

Ingredients:

For roasting:

1 1/2 lb (~700 g) Russet/baking potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/4 inch/1 cm slices
1 sweet potato (mine was 9 oz/250 g), peeled, cut into 1/4 inch/1 cm slices
1/2 tsp Celtic sea salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

For the filling:

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium size sweet onion, halved then sliced
8 oz (230 g) cremini mushrooms, stem ends removed, sliced
6 oz (170 g) baby spinach
1/2 tsp Celtic sea salt
1 tsp dried thyme

For the potato crust:

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil for the baking dish
14 oz (400 g) of the roasted potatoes
3 Tbsp chickpea flour
1/2 tsp Celtic sea salt

For the cashew cheese sauce:

1 cup (140 g) raw, unsalted cashews, soaked in filtered water overnight or for at least 6 hours, drained
1/2 cup (120 ml) filtered water
1 tsp Celtic sea salt
1 clove garlic
4 Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes

Toppings:

2 Roma tomatoes, sliced
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 – 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional, if you like it spicy)

To garnish:

fresh Mediterranean herbs like basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400°F (200° C). Wash and cut vegetables.

Place potato- and sweet potato slices into a large bowl. Add Celtic sea salt, black pepper, and olive oil. Toss thoroughly so all the slices are nicely coated. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet and try to scrape out all the oil out of the bowl as well. Arrange in a single layer, and bake for about 15 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven to flip the slices. Bake for another 15 minutes. When potatoes are tender, remove baking sheet from the oven and set aside.

While potatoes and sweet potatoes are roasting, you can prepare the filling.

Preheat a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add olive oil, then onion slices, and sauté for about 5 minutes or until onion is soft. Add cremini mushrooms, turn heat up to medium high, and sauté for about 7 minutes until all the liquid has evaporated. Now stir in baby spinach, sauté only until the spinach has wilted, about 2 minutes. The color should still be bright green. Season with Celtic sea salt and thyme, and set aside.

For the potato crust, evenly coat the surface of the quiche/baking dish with olive oil. Place about 14 oz (400 g) roasted potato slices (not sweet potato) into a large bowl, and use a potato masher to mash them best as you can. Add chickpea flour with Celtic sea and use your hands to knead everything into a smooth dough. If there are still a few small potato pieces, that’s not a problem. Flatten the dough with a rolling pin as much as you can. You probably won’t be able to completely roll it out because it will break apart on its way to the dish. Transfer the dough to the baking dish and gently press with your fingers to spread it over the bottom and about generous 1 inch (2 1/2 – 3 cm) up the sides. It should kind of look like this:

Add the spinach mushroom filling and spread it evenly.

Preheat the oven to 420°F (215°C).

Distribute the roasted sweet potato and remaining potato slices evenly on top of the spinach mushroom layer.

For the cashew cheese sauce, place all the sauce ingredients into your high speed blender and blend at high speed for about 2 minutes until smooth and creamy.

Pour the sauce over the filling and use a spoon to spread it evenly. Lay out tomato slices on top of that, and sprinkle with dried thyme, oregano, basil, and the optional crushed red pepper.

Pop into the preheated oven and bake for about 30 minutes until nicely browned and thoroughly heated. Keep checking for the color because you don’t want the crust to be charred. I turned off the heat and let the tart sit in the oven for another ten minutes with the door slightly opened.

Garnish with whole and/or minced fresh herbs and enjoy it slice by slice! 😉