Summer tart

Quinoa makes a beautifully nutty and flavourful crust for this tart. We have chosen to fill the crust with pesto and roast tomatoes, but you could fill it with anything you like. The fibre and proteinrich quinoa turns a simple tart into a filling and enjoyable meal. We like that this showstopper of a dish comes together with some very simple ingredients and little time. Serves 8 Prep 25

minutes Cook 3040

minutes

Quinoa crust

1 cup dried quinoa

11⁄2 cups Homemade Broth or water 2 Tbsp ground flax meal

1 tsp Himalayan salt

1 tsp dried mixed herbs

1 egg, lightly beaten

26 tsp water olive oil for greasing the tin

Roasted tomatoes

15 cherry tomatoes

2 large heirloom tomatoes

6 medium tomatoes cut into half or large chunks

5 sprigs of thyme

Himalayan salt and pepper

1 Tbsp olive oil

Filling

1 cup Classic Pesto

red onion, thinly sliced 2 handfuls of rocket 1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Method

Place the quinoa and broth in a pot, bring to a boil then simmer with lid on until the quinoa absorbs all the liquid. Once cooked, fluff with a fork and replace the lid on the pot to trap the steam. Preheat oven to 200degC.

Once the quinoa has cooled down enough to touch, mix through the ground flax meal, salt and herbs and beaten egg.

Mix until a dough forms, add water one teaspoon at a time until the mixture forms

a loose dough. You will usually need 26 teaspoons of water, depending on how much water is left in the cooked quinoa.

Press the quinoa into a greased 30cm tart tin. Press evenly over the base and up the sides of the tin.

Wet your fingertips so that the quinoa doesn’t stick to your hands as you press it in the tin.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden. Remove from oven and leave in tin to cool.

While the base is cooking, place the tomatoes in a baking dish with the thyme and salt and pepper, and drizzle with olive oil. Roast for 3040 minutes, or until skins blister and juices start to leak out.

Spoon the pesto into the cooled but still warm tart crust and smooth over the base.

Carefully spoon the roast tomatoes into the tart crust, arranging evenly. Discard the thyme or use to garnish.

Very finely slice the red onion into long rounds and mix with the rocket leaves. Heap the rocket and onion mini salad in a pile on top of the tart. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar over the whole tart.

Notes: You can make the tart filling ahead of time and return it to the oven at 180degC for 510 minutes to warm through and crisp up again.

This tart crust is very versatile: use differentflavoured pestos, different roast vegetable fillings, or use as a pizza crust.

You can make this tart crust with leftover quinoa. You may just need to add a little more water once you have mixed through the flax meal in order for it to bind, as the quinoa will have dried out a little in the fridge.