August - Village Voices

From Our Country Kitchen
The Nordic Bakery Cookbook by Miisa Mink contains excellent recipes utilising garden
produce. Quark pastry is quite different to short pastry but is easy to make and results in
delicious tarts. Quark, a low fat dairy product comes in 250g cartons and is available from
supermarkets. Make the full quantity of dough as any surplus to requirements can be
wrapped in cling film and frozen.
Pastry with Quark
250 g butter at room temperature 250 g strong white bread flour
250 g quark cheese 1 tsp baking powder
Put the butter and quark in a mixing bowl and beat well with a wooden spoon. Add the
flour/baking powder. Mix until a dough and roll into a ball flattened into a disc. Wrap in
cling film; chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or until it is required.
Vegetable and Blue Cheese Tart -
Serves 6 (starter) or 4 (main course)
Preheat oven to
200c/400f Gas Mk 6
Quark pastry
200 g broccoli florets
200 g cauliflower florets
1 tbls vegetable oil
1 onion finely chopped
100 g halved cherry tomatoes
75 g crumbly blue cheese
75 g Cheddar, grated
ground black pepper
Cut the broccoli and cauliflower into
small chunks. Put into a pan of boiling
water and cook for 3 or 4 minutes; drain,
cool and dry on kitchen paper. Fry the onions
in the oil until softened. Allow to cool.
Take the quark pastry from fridge and divide in 2. (Only half is needed for this recipe.)
Grease a 26 cm [10 inch] loose-bottomed flan tin. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface.
Line tin with the pastry, pressing it into the fluted edges, cutting off the surplus. Tip the
onion into the pastry case and spread evenly. Top with the broccoli, cauliflower and
cherry tomatoes (cut side up). Sprinkle the cheeses evenly over the top; season with black
pepper. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool
before serving; also good served cold the next day.
Pauline Austerfield
www.villagevoices.org.uk
Pauline Austerfield
August 2011 page 17