I’m a meat and potatoes kind of girl.
But – if you don’t mind, I’d like a filet, please. Perfectly-seared, with a tender middle of the darkest pink. And while mashed potatoes are fine for Thanksgiving, I prefer something with a bit more personality. With cheese – yes, blue cheese! Wrap it all up in a buttery crust, and now you’ve got something that serves just as beautifully as it tastes.
There are few things I love more than a good savory tart, and this one is just about as simple as it gets. The filling is made of just four ingredients – along with a sprinkling of salt and fresh herbs – and when paired with a simple green salad, it’s really a meal in itself. I love that it’s hearty yet elegant, and easily adaptable; you could switch up the cheese or use herbs of your choice, or do as Gourmet initially suggested and make individual tartlets – which is totally my plan for next time.
Blue Cheese + Red Potato Tart
From Smitten Kitchen, adapted from Gourmet
- 1 Savory Tart Shell, below, or recipe of your choice, in a 9-inch tart pan
- 1 pound small red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/4-inch slices
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1/4 pound blue cheese, crumbled (about 3/4 cup)
- 1 tablespoons finely chopped herb or herbs of your choice {I used a mixture of thyme and rosemary}
- Kosher or sea salt for sprinkling
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium saucepan, cover potato slices with water by two inches. Simmer, uncovered, until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain. If necessary, pat potatoes dry with towels.
Arrange potato slices, overlapping slightly, in concentric circles around the tart pan. Sprinkle blue cheese over potatoes. Whisk cream and egg yolk together and pour into tart shell, then sprinkle tart with herbs of your choice and salt.
Bake tart on a baking sheet until bubbling and golden brown, about 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in pan on rack and serve warm or cold.
Savory Tart Shell
{This is hands-down the best recipe for a savory tart shell I’ve ever made. My oven can be finicky at times and tends to burn edges too easily, but this one held up like a champ – no parbaking required!}
- 1 1/4 (5 1/2 ounces) cups flour
- 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons (3 ounces) butter, diced
- 1 large egg
In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch and salt. Cut the butter in with a pastry blender, fork or two knives until it is in very tiny bits. Add one egg and mix with a fork until a dough forms. If this does not happen easily, toss it out onto a counter and knead it together. This dough is rather tough but with a little elbow grease, it does come together nicely.
This dough can also be made a food processor, or in a stand mixer, though I’ve only tried it in a food processor.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to a 12-inch circle. Place the dough in a 9-inch pie plate or tart pan and press to remove any air bubbles. Level the edges, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Proceed with filling of your choice.
