Cast Iron

Savory Tarte Tatin with Winter Vegetables

December 30, 2009
4.5
4 Ratings
  • Serves 6
Author Notes

My New Year's resolution is to eat locally grown food whenever possible. Happily, I live less than ten miles from a fantastic urban farm called Boggy Creek Farm (http://www.boggycreekfarm.com/) that is open all year long. A recent trip there inspired this savory tarte tatin, which could easily be modified to incorporate whatever vegetables are available near you! —arielleclementine

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • For the Pastry
  • 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 stick cold unsalted butter, diced small
  • 1 large farm-fresh egg, beaten
  • For the Vegetables
  • 1 small sweet potato, peeled, sliced into 1/4" thick disks
  • 1 small bunch carrots, cut on a steep bias in 1/4" thick slices
  • 1 small yellow onion, peeled, sliced in 1/4" slices, rings separated
  • 1 small rutabaga, peeled, cut in 1/4" slices
  • 2 tablespoons extra virigin olive oil
  • kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons meyer lemon juice
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons local honey
  • 1 teaspoon meyer lemon zest
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
  • 1 handful baby chard or spinach
  • chevre, for crumbling on finished tarte
Directions
  1. Combine the flour and salt in a small bowl. Scatter the diced butter over the flour and cut in with a pastry knife until the butter is well incorporated. Add the beaten egg and mix with a fork until the mixture starts to come together. Use your hands to quickly form the mixture into a 4" disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes. Don't worry if the dough seems a little dry, everything will work out just fine!
  2. While the pastry is chilling, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and toss the sliced sweet potato, carrots, onion, rutabaga and olive oil. Spread them out evenly on the baking sheet and sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Roast for 30 minutes, or until the vegetables start to brown. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.
  3. While the vegetables are roasting, roll out the pastry on a well-floured work surface into a 12" circle. Start rolling from the center of the disk and add more flour to the underside of the pastry periodically to keep the dough from sticking. Lightly flour the underside of a baking sheet and carefully transfer the dough onto it, to make it easier to slide onto the vegetables in a bit.
  4. Melt the butter in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add the lemon juice and honey and stir until the mixture is combined and bubbly. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon zest and thyme.
  5. When the roasted vegetables are cool enough to handle, begin layering them, along with the uncooked baby chard, on top of the glaze in the cast iron skillet. The tarte will be inverted, so you should spend some time making the bottom layer look pretty. After you've layered the bottom layer you can just dump the rest of the vegetables on top unceremoniously because no one will see that part.
  6. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Slide the pastry from the baking sheet on top of the vegetables in the cast iron skillet, and put the skillet in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the crust is lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 15-20 minutes before inverting onto a plate. I highly recommend that you serve each slice with crumbled chevre!

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • gingerroot
    gingerroot
  • hardlikearmour
    hardlikearmour
  • Helenthenanny
    Helenthenanny
  • kmartinelli
    kmartinelli
  • theicp
    theicp
I have always loved food. My favorite books as a kid always featured food (eg. The Berenstain Bears Get the Gimmies- so much candy!) and I loved cooking shows like Yan Can Cook and The Frugal Gourmet. I started cooking the Thanksgiving dinner for my family when I was 13 years old. I have food52 to thank for inspiring me to come up with my own recipes, as well as for introducing me to a community of fantastic cooks and their amazing recipes. I try my best to cook locally and seasonally, and I tend to prefer straightforward, simple recipes where the ingredients get to shine. I live in wonderful Austin, Texas with my husband, Andy (a video game programmer) and my son, Henry (an 8-month-old who loves to eat).

27 Reviews

juppidog March 7, 2011
Yum, I just bought a long lusted after tarte tatin pan. Thanks
 
gingerroot March 5, 2011
Arielleclementine, this is just gorgeous! I bet it is delicious too. Love your savory twist with winter veggies.
 
arielleclementine March 5, 2011
aw thanks, gingerroot!
 
hardlikearmour March 5, 2011
This looks pretty and sounds "bazonkers!"
 
arielleclementine March 5, 2011
haha! thank you!!
 
Helenthenanny March 4, 2011
oh yes! glad you decided to submit this one!! a year ago it was delicious and, dollars to donuts, i bet it still is! (please make it again soon!) : )
 
arielleclementine March 4, 2011
thanks sister! andy and i had this recently with just quickly sauteed rainbow chard for the vegetable part, and it was bazonkers. meaning: we liked it!
 
kmartinelli March 4, 2011
Looks delicious!
 
arielleclementine March 4, 2011
hey thanks! i was just admiring your beautiful strawberry tart!
 
theicp January 3, 2010
Interesting technique - I like it! (Plus, it looks sooo delish!)
 
arielleclementine January 3, 2010
thank you!
 
candaceb January 1, 2010
Ooooh, sublime! I hope for another bumper crop of chard before long and this will be perfect!
 
arielleclementine January 3, 2010
oh, how fun! thanks, candace :)
 
dani January 1, 2010
What a beautiful presentation! I can't wait to try this dish. It looks wonderful.
 
arielleclementine January 1, 2010
thank you!
 
La452 December 31, 2009
Hey Austin! :-) This looks gorgeous, and I am sure it tastes fabulous as well ... we visit their booth at the Sunset Valley farmer's market but I didn't know I could go to the farm too!
 
arielleclementine December 31, 2009
well hello, fellow austinite! thanks for the kind words :) yes! boggy creek is awesome, and it's open every wednesday from 9-1, so you don't have to wait until saturday for your farmers' market fix. in addition to their beautiful produce, boggy creek sells Vital Farm's wonderful eggs and Pure Luck Dairy's excellent goat cheese. good times :)
 
MrsWheelbarrow December 31, 2009
Beautiful recipe - so inspirational.
 
arielleclementine December 31, 2009
that is so kind! thank you :)
 
mrslarkin December 30, 2009
this sounds outrageously good! Nice pic too!
 
arielleclementine December 30, 2009
thanks so much! this was the first time I was able to take a picture for submission using natural lighting- I think it helped quite a bit!
 
Helenthenanny December 30, 2009
This is SO GOOD sister!!
 
arielleclementine December 30, 2009
hooray! thanks, sis :)
 
lastnightsdinner December 30, 2009
This is just lovely.
 
arielleclementine December 30, 2009
thank you :)
 
Loves F. December 30, 2009
This looks great! Fantastic picture too!
 
arielleclementine December 30, 2009
oh boy! thank you :)