Yeasted tart dough

Rocket is going into everything. I smeared a rocket pesto - rocket, shiro miso, Tasmanian walnuts (they are so, so good - get 'em fresh while you still can), oil, lemon at the end - on the base of Thursday night's tart, topped it with caramelised fennel and onions, green olives and finished with slices of hothouse tomato. Gorgeous. Halfway through, I realised I've made some version of the tart at least once a fortnight for the last few years.

This is a silky dough; pliable, agreeable, doable even when you can't think straight. The very opposite, then, of the temperamental shortcrust I've come to know and love. When I want pastry, on those days when I feel like pushing the boat out, taking my time over a beautiful tart, I want it to be short. Really short. A high ratio of cold, unsalted butter to flour, which is why I actually end up make it so rarely. Though clearly not afraid of fat, I feel far better for having introduced this lower-fat dough into the mix.

Thank you, once again, Deborah Madison.

Yeasted tart dough

I make this with half spelt, half wholemeal, feeling my way around how much flour each batch requires. Know that it performs beautifully with white flour alone. If eggs aren't your thing, or you haven't any, replace the egg with an extra tablespoon of oil and up the warm water by 2 tablespoons. Works every time.

2 teaspoons of active dried yeast

1/2 teaspoon of sugar

1/2 cup warm water

3 tablespoons of olive oil

1 egg, beaten

Good pinch of sea salt

1 3/4 cups wholemeal (wholewheat) flour, plus more as required

Whisk the yeast, sugar and warm water together - remember, not too warm or you'll kill the yeast - in a roomy bowl and set aside in a warm place for 10 minutes. Add the oil, the egg and the sea salt next, then sift in the flour. Hold back some of the bran if your flour's heavy on the stuff. Mix with a spoon until you no longer can, then turn out onto a floured bench. Knead for 3-5 minutes. You may need to add more flour as you go - things should be slightly sticky and nicely elastic when prodded.

Lightly oil a bowl - the one you've just used will be fine - pop in your dough and roll it around a little so that it, too, is lightly oiled. Cover with a tea towel and leave to proof for an hour. Sometimes it doubles, sometimes not. It doesn't really matter, truth be told.

Roll out to fit a loose-bottomed tart tin (there will be overhang, so trim and crimp as required) OR, and this is what I do most often, sit the rolled out dough on a pizza stone*, then fill the centre with whatever you like (so long as it's not too liquid) and fold the edges in to make a rustic-looking open galette-thingy.

Bake at 200 C (400 F) for 30-40 minutes.

*Christina asked a very relevant question: Do I heat the pizza stone? Not always, but when I've put it into the pre-heating oven, the base has often been even better (though make sure you watch those hands on the hot stone - ouch). Cooking time will be a fraction less if you do this.

Comments

[Christina]

Oh, this sounds fantastic, so good with the tomatoes and peppers that are in abundance right now around here. This will hit my oven this week.

Question: is the pizza stone heated with the oven, or do you set the dough on a room-temperature pizza stone?

I hope you're enjoying the wispy tail ends of winter.

[Lucy]

It's great - and bloody easy, which is pretty much my cooking style these days.

Excellent question; I only heat the stone when I remember to! It seems to work well either way but now I think of it, the times when the stone has been warmed in the oven while it comes to temperature it's been really lovely (and quicker to cook). Will amend recipe - thanks, you. End of summer treating you well?? XX

[kathryn]

Lucy - what an interesting idea. I've never thought of, or even heard of a yeasted "pastry". I am really intrigued and will have to try this out soon, particularly given the absence of butter.

Aaand OH YUM to rocket pesto, caramelised fennel and green olives.

[Johanna GGG]

your tart sounds wonderful - I would pay good money for a slice at a restaurant (which is on my mind after the paucity of vego dishes at taste of melbourne on the weekend)

a yeasted dough sounds delicious though only for when I have time - maybe a relaxed weekend dinner sometime before the weather heats up - would love to hear about some of your favourite fillings - sounds like there must be a few given how often you make it

[another outspoken female]

I love the sound of this base and the dairy free pesto with miso. Next time we are in the kitchen together maybe you could make it with me.

[Simona Carini]

I love this dough too and use it to make galettes.

[Shula]

Do you shell the walnuts yourself? I'm always wary of shelled walnuts, so often they're rancid...

[Lucy]

Kathryn, it's a great replacement for all that butter and kinda foolproof, which I really like.

Johanna I'm not at all surprised at the lack of vego dishes at Taste of Melbourne. Those events are not about minority eating-styles; they're always about flogging products and chefs to the general public who, generally, aren't vegetarians! Yes, I have lots of fave fillings, but each one is different. Roasted pumpkin, fetta and spinach is SO good.

AOF You're on, baby.

Simona: It's a real winner!

Shula, I've been getting beautiful, fresh shelled ones from Nut Trek in the Deli Hall at Queen Vic Market. I suspect they won't be around much longer as the season's practically over, but all winter they've been brilliant.

[Cath @ Moo-Lolly-Bar]

Glad I stumbled across your blog, its a great read, very well written and highly engaging.

[Lucy]

Hi Cath - thanks! What a lovely thing to say. Welcome.

[Christina]

Thanks for the update on the pizza stone. I'm definitely making this with some uberlocal (as in, from around the corner--woohoo!) goat cheese and some of my sweet little tomatoes on Monday for dinner. Yum. As always, thank you for the inspiration and lovely images.

[Lucy]

Christina, woot! That is uber, uber-local. And, I will hasten to add, making me incredibly excited that tomato season isn't all that far away, here.

Enjoy. X

[Trace Willans]

The tomatoes are ripe, the chickens are laying and I have oodles of basil and rocket, sounds like a tart night to me. x te