BROCCOLI TART WITH RED ONION JAM & WALNUT PESTO

SERVES: 4 PREP TIME: 20 minutes COOKING TIME: 25 minutes

This has to be one of my most favourite recipes. It's full of flavour, looks great, and it's easy and quick to prepare. I've used broccoli for this recipe, but it works just as well with other veggies such as cauliflower, sweetcorn, and even kumara. See page 36 for more of my favourite tart toppings.

We make the pastry by hand when we do this recipe at the cooking school, but you can use supermarket-bought pastry.

INGREDIENTS

1 head broccoli, long stalks intact,

cut into florets

2 tbsp grapeseed oil pinch salt

2 sheets puff pastry

1 egg, lightly beaten

½ cup onion jam, see recipe at right 100g washed rind cheese freshly ground black pepper

8 purple basil leaves walnut pesto, see recipe at right

METHOD

1 Preheat the oven to 190°C. Make the onion jam (recipe at right).

2 Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch the broccoli for 3 minutes, then place in a bowl of iced water for 3 minutes to halt cooking. Drain well, toss

in oil and salt, then chargrill in a pan or on the barbecue until coloured.

3 Line a baking tray with baking paper. Lay one sheet of pastry on the tray, brush with egg, then lay a second sheet on top. Cut away the inside of the top pastry sheet, leaving a 3cm square border – be careful not to cut the sheet underneath. Prick the pastry in the square with a fork.

4 Spread the onion jam inside the square, add the broccoli and top with dollops of cheese.

5 Brush the pastry border with egg, sprinkle salt and pepper over the whole thing, then bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until golden.

6 Garnish with the walnut chilli pesto and purple basil leaves.