Almost Fat-Free Savory Beet Tart with Pepper-Parmesan Crust
This recipe is an adaption of a food52 recipe I immediately fell in love with (see it here); its combination of beets, bread, and cheese (::these are a few of my favorite things::) left me stunned… and starving.
But ah, there’s the rub. There was simply too much fat in this recipe to feed my cholesterol-sensitive mother. So what did I do? I created a nearly fat-fat free monster! A Frankenstein of the kitchen, if you will.
I stripped this recipe down to its bare bones, added a crust that is far more amenable to my mom’s dietary needs and voila! an almost fat-free beet tart appeared and swept us off of our feet.
[P.S. I included so many photos today because I finally forked over the cash and got a tripod and made a light tent. The difference is really phenomenal. Here's some information on how to make your own light tent. :)]
Almost Fat-Free Savory Beet Tart with Pepper-Parmesan Crust
Pastry
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp pepper
- 2/3 cup yogurt
- 4 tbsp parmesan cheese
- 3-4 tbsp cold water
Filling
- 1 lb beets
- 2 garlic bulbs
- 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
- salt and pepper
- 1 egg yolk, beaten
- 1 tbsp fresh dill, minced
- Preheat oven to 350F. Skin beets, remove roots and greens. Place in tin foil. Slice off top of garlic bulbs and place in tin foil. Bake garlic for one hour and bake beets until tender (1-2 hours).
- Prepare crust. In a food processor, combine flour, salt, pepper and cheese. Next, add yogurt and water. Process until mixture resembles rough breadcrumbs.
- Pour mixture onto table and shape into a flattened disc and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until needed (about 1 hour).
- Pour vinegar into a small saucepan and reduce until thickened.
- When beets and garlic are cooked, slice beets into rounds and squeeze garlic out of pods. Set aside.
- Divide pastry dough into four. Roll each section out to 8″ discs (I like to use a similarly sized bowl to create a perfect circle).
- Spread 1/4 of garlic onto each round (leave at least a 1″ border); then place 1/4 of beets on top. Finally, dress with 1/4 of the reduced vinegar. Repeat with remaining three rounds. To close, take one end and fold up and to the left, continue to fold up until pastry is covered (see above). Repeat for each round and top with 1/4 of dill. Dress with beaten egg yolk.
- Bake at 350 for 10-20 minutes, serve, and enjoy!
oo beets! that’s one of the nice things about CSAs, they encourage me to use vegetables i might not know that much about. i love the look and taste of beets, and this is a great use for them!
Beets really do have some extraordinary qualities! I’m not sure how they got such a bad rap with, as you say, such a beautiful color and sweet taste, but I did really enjoy this recipe because it showcases those qualities. :)
That looks delicious! I might even add a bit more fat by including a bit of feta cheese. I really like the look of the pepper crust.
You might want to check the recipe I adapted this from! She uses goat cheese and walnuts. I’m sure it’s delicious!
This looks amazing, I had a question about the type of yogurt to use though. I have seen other yogurt pastry recipes which argue about the type used. 1) Thick or thin. 2) Does it have to have a certain fat content?
Hi Catherine,
I use Greek yogurt for most everything. Regular, plain yogurt of any fat content, though, should also work. :)
Thank-you. :D I like Alpro soya yogurt but we always have the greek stuff in so I will use that.