Bake

Corn, Spring Onion, and Ricotta Tart

May 17, 2014
4
3 Ratings
Photo by James Ransom
  • Serves 6 to 8
Author Notes

You can easily make this gluten-free by replacing the plain flour with a gluten-free alternative.
Eat This My Friend | Jade O'Donahoo

Test Kitchen Notes

Meatless Monday has a new favorite. Easy to make, this dish looks great and tastes wonderful. The polenta pastry provides a crisp and crumbly crust for the filling, which punches above its weight in flavor. The spring onion cuts through the sweetness of the corn, and the ricotta provides a velvety finish. This dish can be eaten hot or cold and would be a showstopper at breakfast, lunch, or dinner. —Delwyn Cox

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Tart Shell
  • 115 grams (1 cup) sifted plain flour
  • 115 grams (3/4 cup) uncooked polenta
  • 115 grams (1/2 cup) butter, plus extra for greasing
  • 1 egg
  • 1 pinch sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon ice water
  • Filling
  • 3 ears of corn
  • 4 eggs
  • 3 spring onions, thinly sliced
  • 100 grams (scant 1/2 cup) fresh ricotta
  • 1/4 cup double cream or heavy cream
  • 1 pinch salt, more to taste
  • 1 pinch freshly-ground pepper, more to taste
Directions
  1. Start with the pastry: Place flour, polenta, butter, and salt into a food processor and pulse until the butter is combined. Add the egg and iced water. Pulse until the mixture comes together.
  2. Turn dough out onto a lightly-floured bench and knead for a minute. Form the dough into a ball and cover with cling film. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  3. Preheat oven to 200°C (395°F). Take the pastry out of the fridge, and roll out both sides until you have a circular shape about 4 millimeters thick and wide enough to fit in a large flan tin. Grease a flan tin very well with butter and lay the pastry over the top. Press the sides in with your fingers, then run the rolling pin over the top of the tin to trim off any excess -- keep the leftover pastry in case you need to patch up any holes.
  4. Place a sheet of baking paper over the top and filling it with dried beans or pastry weights. Place in the oven to bake for about 20 minutes.
  5. While the pastry is baking, remove the kernels from the corn cobs. Place the 4 eggs, cream, salt, and corn kernels into the food processor (no need to wash it after making the pastry!) and pulse briefly until combined. Stir in the thinly sliced spring onions.
  6. When the pastry is ready, remove it from the oven and pour in your egg mixture. Break the ricotta up into small chunks and dot it evenly around the mixture. Place it back into the oven and bake until set, about 20 minutes. Grind over some freshly-cracked pepper before serving.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • tessga
    tessga
  • Leemoe Jones
    Leemoe Jones
  • Kira Boyle
    Kira Boyle
  • Frances Barker
    Frances Barker
  • karin.anderson.52
    karin.anderson.52

41 Reviews

judy April 3, 2022
corn is a LATE SUMMER vegetable. Spring Onions are obviously SPRING. So one of the veggies are going to be out of season. I would guess that some of the complaints about a bland recipe are that the corn used is out of season. Organic green onions are pretty good year around. The best corn is late summer. So I will try and remember this for that time of the year. I can't imagine that this would be bland if the corn used was in season.
 
tessga July 4, 2016
I thought this was lovely in that it's delicate and has a wonderful texture. We did find it a bit bland despite my heavier hand salting. It's also a bit sweet with the polenta and the corn so could use some herbs, some bitter greens, or some proscuitto or salty meat to balance it all out and a little oomph. I would totally make this again though with some small adjustments, it was a wonderful sunday meal with a salad.
 
Leemoe J. July 22, 2015
Wondering about the size of the tart tin used here. I used my 9.5 inch pyrex pie plate and there was a bit too much filling. Perhaps due to this, I had to bake mine an extra ten minutes or so.

I used scallions for spring onions and cornmeal for polenta as I could not get either of those easily. Used extra salt as other reviewers recommended and also added some thyme. The crust doesn't hold together well, but everything tastes great!

 
Eat T. July 23, 2015
Hi there!
Thank you for your comment. I have a feeling my tart case is much, much, bigger than the average one, as i have had a couple of comments about this.. It is quite shallow and wide, which would explain the discrepancies between filling ingredients, cooking times, and tart shell consistency.
I also think that my idea of a 'few big pinches of salt' could probably be interpreted quite differently. I am rather heavy handed with salt, and one pinch involves 4 fingers - at least. The next time I make this I am going to measure the salt content exactly and edit the recipe accordingly : )
 
Kimberly R. July 1, 2015
I made this last night... it was not bad. For the amount of work that goes into it, though, I was hoping for something MUCH more flavorfu. It definitely needs more salt in both the tart shell recipe and the filling. I put in 1/8 tsp in the crust and 3/8 tsp in the filling. I'd double it next time... but honestly I probably won't make this again. The polenta crust was a too "crunchy" for me. Maybe an extra fine cornmeal crust would work better.
 
Eat T. July 23, 2015
Hi Kimberly,
I just replied to a comment above re salt - perhaps my idea of a 'few big pinches of salt' is too vague as it could be interpreted quite differently. I am rather heavy handed with salt - one pinch involves at least 4 fingers. I am going to measure the exact salt content to the next time I make this tart, and adjust the recipe.
 
Kira B. July 27, 2014
Can anyone speak to the flavor and texture of the tart shell itself? I would really love to make it, but am apprehensive about the polenta. Many thanks!
 
ghainskom July 28, 2014
Flavor and texture were both definitely "corny". That's really the best word I found to describe it. I hope it helps!
 
Eat T. July 28, 2014
Hi Kira B,
The polenta crust is my favourite part - I use it for most of the tarts I make now, including sweet ones. I love the texture and crumb the polenta lends, plus the subtle sweetness of it. Give it a try!
 
Dolce July 26, 2014
Can you make this with a good brand of frozen sweet baby corn and a good quality frozen pie crust?
 
Eat T. July 28, 2014
Hi there, you definitely could - i've been known to take that short cut from time to time and it is still hits the spot. Just not quite as good. X
 
Frances B. July 9, 2014
The corn,spring onion and ricotta tart sounds so good i might make this next week mm yum yum yummy !!
 
Eat T. July 15, 2014
I made this recently using feta instead of ricotta - it was equally as good, if not even better!
 
Krystyna July 6, 2014
Why some people are so afraid or metric system of measurements? It's the easiest and much more accurate system. It is a shame that people don't know how to convert by themselves. C'mon, don't insult your own intelligence !
 
ghainskom July 4, 2014
I have to add that salt or not, that it seems to taste much better cold (well, room temperature, next day) than right out of the oven...
 
ghainskom July 4, 2014
Made this yesterday. It was ok, but not outstanding, I think mainly because it was lacking salt. "Few big pinches of salt" isn't very exact either. Not sure I'll make this again but to all who are interested: don't go too easy on the salt...
 
karin.anderson.52 June 25, 2014
No metric outrage here - I glad if I don't have to deal with inexact volume measures.
 
Eat T. June 26, 2014
haha i'm with you there. X
 
Stephanie B. June 25, 2014
We've added the U.S. measurements for this recipe so that it includes both metric and U.S. now.
 
Eat T. June 25, 2014
Thank you kindly for doing that - I didn't realise that metric measurements would cause such outrage! I personally think it is great that there is the option to submit recipes in metric, it enables global submission, which broadens the community even further. X
 
btglenn June 25, 2014
While this looks like an interesting recipe, I really object to the editorial decision to include a recipe whose weights and measures are in metric. The New York Times and other sources now include both metric and the system used in the US. While the internet and many cookbooks do include conversion tables, Food 52, an American based internet site, should offer American measurements in ALL the recipes their editors deem worthy of publication.
 
grammypeg June 25, 2014
Food 52 Folks - can you please publish US amounts for recipes? If you have done so on this one please direct me to the spot.
Thanks!
 
Krystyna July 6, 2014
Buy yourself a kitchen scale !!! It is a must for everybody who has any idea of cooking! You can weight on it in grams and kg, oz and lbs !
 
csemsack June 18, 2014
What is double cream? Is it what we in the U.S. call heavy whipping cream?
 
Eat T. June 19, 2014
Hi! Here is australia we have double cream, which has a 48–60% fat content, with no thickeners or stabilisers are added. I am not sure what you have in the US, but I would look for anything labelled 'pure cream' and has a thick dolloping consistency. Basically the highest fat content you can get. Hope that helps!
Jade. X
 
EllnMllr June 16, 2014
Could you translate from grams to oz of volume measurements? And make the other corrections? e.g. how about an updated recipe?
 
Eat T. June 16, 2014
Hi there, I have already updated the recipe, however I am from Australia where we use the metric system. I wouldn't have even the slightest idea about converting. Sorry about that. X
 
Krystyna July 6, 2014
How about buying a scale which was both systems! Or go online, google it and you'll have it in a second!!
 
Grand June 12, 2014
200 degrees - Celsius or Farenheit?
 
Eat T. June 13, 2014
that is celsius : )
 
Julie June 12, 2014
Did you prepare the polenta yourself or purchase it?
 
Eat T. June 13, 2014
hi julie, you do not need to prepare the polenta for this recipe - you just use the dried polenta 'meal' as you would flour in a pastry recipe.
jade x
 
lisina June 11, 2014
Beauteous!
 
Eat T. June 13, 2014
thanks!
 
AnnaChris June 8, 2014
I made this for dinner tonight and it was divine. I think I rolled the dough a bit too thin, as I had quite a lot of dough left over after I pressed it into the pan. The crust also shrank bit (perhaps *because* it was too thin?) during the par bake, so I was not able to fit all of the filling in either. Not wanting to waste so much deliciousness, I used the remaining dough and filling for a small free-form galette, which I baked for about 35 minutes, give or take. I was skeptical, but it actually turned out great! I enjoyed this over some fresh greens lightly dressed just with lemon and salt, along with a glass of white wine. Perfect solo dinner - and tons of leftovers for the week ahead!
 
Eat T. June 8, 2014
Hi AnnaChris, sometimes you can get a bit of shrinkage if a little too much water is added - all depending on how thirsty that particular batch of flour is. It happens to me sometimes too. I also think that my tart case might be a bit humungous! Probably more so than the average one..
What an excellent idea to make a little galette with the left overs, I commend your creativity : )
Glad you liked the recipe, I often have it for lunch (cold) the next day and love it!
X Jade