Spiraled Vegetable Tart

Makes one 10 inch Tart

Pastry crust:

8 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into one inch cubes

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour

½ tsp salt

Ice water

Filling:

1 Cup labneh, homemade or store bought

⅓ cup pesto

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

Juice of half a lemon

½ tsp red chilli flakes

3-4 large zucchinis

3-4 large carrots

2-3 large eggplants

Pesto:

2 cups fresh basil (approx one large bunch), washed and drained

1 clove of garlic

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

⅓ cup pine nuts or walnuts

½ to 3/4 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
To make the crust, sift flour into a large bowl and add the salt. Add butter, and with your fingers or a pastry blender, cut in butter until pea-sized chunks remain. Add ice water a teaspoon at a time until a cohesive dough is formed. Shape into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for 30 minutes to an hour.

Roll out pastry on a floured surface and place into a 10 inch greased removable bottom quiche tin (ideally one that is quite deep). Prick base with a fork, and rest in the fridge or freezer for 10-15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350˚ degrees. Cover pastry with foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake covered for 20 minutes, then remove foil and weights and bake a further 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool.

Combine pesto ingredients in the work bowl of a food processor or blender. Pulse until smooth. Season to taste.

Place labneh into a medium bowl. Add pesto, lemon juice, grated parmesan and chilli flakes and mix well. Spread into the bottom of the cooled crust.

Slice the zucchini, carrot and eggplant into thin slices lengthwise using a mandolin or vegetable peeler. If necessary, briefly blanch the carrots in salted water make them more pliable. Trim slices so that they are all roughly the same height (this will make rolling them significantly easier) Roll a strip of zucchini into a tight spiral, followed by a strip of carrot and then eggplant.

Continue alternating, forming a tight spiral. As the roll gets larger, you may find you need to use two strips of vegetable to complete the circle. Once the roll gets too large to handle easily on the bench, place in the centre of the filled crust. Continue arranging alternating layers of vegetables around the spiral until you reach the outer edge of the crust.

Drizzle tart with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees or until vegetables are slightly tender. Serve warm with remaining pesto on the side.