I love flipping through the pages of Martha Stewart Living Magazine. Everything is so beautiful, so color-coordinated, so inspiring, so…in a word, perfect. Truthfully the level of perfection intimidates me, and I find I tend to do more browsing and less actual making of the many projects Martha describes.
Martha makes it all look so easy. Cut this fabric here, stitch a little there and—voila—hand sewn placemats. Forage for a few ferns and tuck them into a cute container you found at a tag sale and you have a peaceful, earthy centerpiece. Pick fresh apples from your backyard orchard and whip up a tasty pie, which brings me to the Zucchini Tart I recently made.
Seattle’s slow-start summer has finally graced us with enough sunshine to ripen a few veggies in the garden. We harvested our first zucchini this past weekend and I decided it deserved to be featured in a special recipe, a Martha Stewart recipe. With most of the ingredients at the ready–phyllo in the freezer, cream and Parmesan in the fridge and basil in our herb bed, and our lovely ripe zucchini–I was ready to roll.
I’ll be darned if making the tart wasn’t pretty easy. The finished tart looked beautiful, and tasted delicious: the creamy custard with the fresh zucchini was the perfect foil for the crispy, flaky phyllo crust. Big Papa said it was like eating a zucchini pizza. Scrumptious!
We enjoyed the tart and a crisp, dry rose wine while nestled on the bench in our lovely garden. Life doesn’t get more Martha than that!
Zucchini Tart
Martha Stewart Living, August 2011, Page 54
Recipe makes one 10-by-15-inch tart. Use an inverted backing sheet in the oven helps give the tart an extra-crisp crust.
Ingredients
- 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
- 9 sheets frozen phyllo dough (12 by 17 inches) thawed (I think I ended up using more)
- 6 large eggs, lightly beaten
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ¾ cup whole milk
- ½ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 1-1/2 ounces)
- 1/3 cup fresh basil, cut into strips
- 1 medium zucchini (about 8 ounces), very thinly sliced, preferably on a mandoline (though I used the broad blade side of a box cheese grater). Discard center with seeds. Note: I probably used more zucchini than the recipe calls for.
How to
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees, and place an inverted baking sheet on the middle rack. Brush a 10-by-15 inch rimmed baking sheet with butter.
2. Brush 1 phyllo sheet with butter, and overhand (keep remaining phyllo covered with plastic wrap as you work). Top with a second phyllo sheet in a slightly different position and brush with butter. Repeat with remaining phyllo and butter, creating a crust with a 1-inch overhand on all sides. Fold edges under to double the thickness. (Don’t worry if some pieces crack along the edge.)
3. Whisk together eggs, cream, milk, Parmesan cheese (I forgot to whisk my Parmesan in and so I sprinkled it on top before baking and it turned out fine!), basil, 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
4. Crumple 6 layers of foil into a rectangle the size of the tart, and fit into crust. Bake crust, set on inverted sheet, until edges are golden, 7 to 8 minutes. Remove foil. Bake until surface is golden, 4 to 5 minutes.
5. Immediately pour custard carefully into crust (do not overfill). Arrange zucchini over top (Martha arranges ever-so-neatly whereas mine were somewhat haphazardly tossed…still tasted the same!), slightly overlapping. Bake on inverted sheet until custard is set in center, 20 to 22 minutes. Immediately slide tart onto wire rack, lifting from one end using a large, wide spatula. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Want more tarts in your life? Check out Wanderfood Wednesday!
Susan Illis says
I do want more tarts in my life! How did you guess? Looks and sounds delicious and I envy your garden.
Beth Shepherd says
Everyone needs more tarts 😉
shelley pritchett says
Your tart is lovely, but your garden is gorgeous!
I found two recipes in MS’s magazines that became family favorites: a rice-cereal crusted cod (1,000 times better than it sounds-lemony and crispy!) and a turkey meat lasagne that uses zucchini instead of pasta noodles. If you have more of those green boats left, I’d be glad to share the recipe!
Beth Shepherd says
Yes, yes, Shelley…do share. This weekend I have a couple “Cue-ball squash” looking ripe which I’m going to stuff, but the lasagna sounds de-lish and that sort of thing (lasagna) is much appreciated by the Mr.
http://www.myglobalkitchens.com/2011/07/adventures-in-san-ignacio-belize/ says
I have a package of fresh phyllo dough for you in my fridge..I want you to try and tell me if it is better than what you normallly get. THis sounds fab by the way~
Beth Shepherd says
I’d love to try it. Maybe I can meet you on a corner and we can exchange the package 😉