Foodie Friday: Emma J. Watling, a Foodie Blogger adds a great recipe!

I plan to make this this weekend for Memorial Day! I love Emma’s Blog Dachshundmom.com Click on link below for more recipes and by all means follow her!!

Foodie Emma J. Watling lives in Buchanan with her husband, Andrew, and their two dachshunds. She coaches cheerleading at James River High School and runs a vegetarian food + baking blog. Find more recipes from Emma at https://www.dachshundmom.com

Summer Vegetable Tart

Puff pastry layered with pesto and thin-sliced summer veggies. Finished with a sprinkle of aged cheddar and baked to golden brown. Easily customized and a perfect way to use extra veggies. This makes a great appetizer or entree. Best enjoyed the day it’s made. 6 entree servings (~365 cal) or 12-18 appetizer servings (~121 cal to 182 cal).

 Author Emma J. Watling

Ingredients

• 1 sheet puff pastry approx. 10″ x 15″
• 1/2 cup basil pesto store bought or homemade (see below)
• 2 medium heirloom tomatoes mix of colors/varieties or any tomato can be used
• ½ medium zucchini
• ⅓ medium yellow squash
• ½ medium shallot
• 5-6 asparagus tips
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• ⅓ cup aged hard cheese (cheddar, Parmesan, Asiago, etc.) crumbled
• enough salt (to liberally cover veggies)
• pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Thaw puff pastry according to package directions (if frozen). You’ll need a mandoline slicer or very sharp knife to prep the veggies. You’ll need a large sheet pan to cook on and smaller sheet pans to prep.

Prep the veggies:

1. Using a mandoline or very sharp knife, thinly slice tomatoes, squash, zucchini, and shallot. If squash and zucchini are larger, cut into half moons. Slice asparagus tips in half.
2. Lay slices of tomatoes, squash and zucchini in a single layer on sheet pans. Salt slices liberally then cover with paper towels. Let sit for 20 minutes to draw out moisture. Meanwhile,
3. Preheat oven according to package directions. Place shallots in a small bowl and soak in 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar while other veggies are sitting. Stir shallots 1-2 times during the 20 minutes.
4. After 20 minutes, remove paper towels from salted veggies and use clean paper towels to absorb as much liquid as possible.

Assemble the tart:

1. Unroll puff pastry onto a large sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Roll pastry inwards ½ inch and crimp edges to form the ‘crust’. Spread pesto evenly over puff pastry, going up to but not on the edges.
2. Beginning with the sliced tomatoes, arrange veggies (tomatoes, squash, zucchini, soaked shallots, and asparagus) in a single layer, barely overlapping. You may not use all of the veggies (save leftovers for later).
3. Finish the tart by sprinkling the crumbled cheese and black pepper over the veggies.

Bake the tart:

1. Bake according to package directions, rotating once halfway through.
2. Let stand for a few minutes before slicing. Serve warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Helpful Tips for Summer Vegetable Tart:

• We use the Wewalka brand refrigerated puff pastry (found in the refrigerated section of Kroger). It doesn’t require thawing and comes on parchment, ready to go.
  • It is 9″x 14″ and bakes on 425*F for 15-20 minutes (this recipe takes 18 minutes for us).
• Use whatever veggies you have on hand! Or even add grilled chicken, etc. This recipe is very easy to customize and substitute.
  • Salting the veggies to let the moisture out is the trick, though–otherwise tomatoes, squash, zucchini, etc would give off too much liquid while baking.

Basil Pesto

Author Emma J. Watling

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh basil leaves, packed
• ⅓ cup grated Parmesan freshly grated or shaker-style
• 3 tbsp pine nuts
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• juice of ½ a lemon = ~ 1 tbsp
• ⅓ cup olive oil best quality
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Combine basil, Parmesan, pine nuts, garlic and lemon juice in a food processor.
2. Pulse 2-3 times. Then, with the processor running, drizzle in the olive oil in a slow stream until emulsified.
3. Scrape down sides if needed and pulse 1-2 more time to incorporate.

Use immediately, or to store:

1. Store in refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Stir before use.

Recipe Notes

Tips on this pesto sauce:

• quality ingredients are key–you’ll want really good olive oil
• The lemon juice helps keep the bright green color fresh. We have made pesto without it but much prefer the addition of the lemon juice.
• Taste before adding salt–your Parmesan may be very salty and you may not need any additional salt

Pine nuts can be pricey–we have find buying them from the bulk section is about 50% cheaper than buying them in the baking/nut aisle!

Submitted upon The Botetourt Bee request by Emma Watling, https://www.dachshundmom.com