Pea, Mint & Goats' Cheese Tart

It seems I have a thing for baking tarts. You'd think I didn't eat anything else. Out of 14 posts, four of them are tarts but hey, they taste good and I wanted to makes something springlike that I could take along to a picnic at the weekend. I love, love, love the minty pea layer and what could be better than topping it off with goats' cheese? My slicing and photography skills don't show it off to it's best but I was totally taken in by how pretty it looks when you cut into it. A lovely bright green stripe topped off with the goats' cheese loveliness. It went down swell and was perfect spring picnic fare. And if you need another reason to give it a go then think of how much your wallet will love you. Frozen peas are as purse friendly as it gets and when your tart needs to be half filled with them then you're onto a money saving winner. Just don't tell your friends how little you spent on them or how easy it was to make. Just revel in the compliments.

Make it.

Recipe

Cuts into 8 wedges

Slightly adapted from here on BBC Good Food

I added a few more peas than the original recipe and a little less goats' cheese as it was all I had. It still tasted great though. I also added a little less cream into the egg mixture as my tart tin is slightly smaller than what the recipe called for.

1 quantity of shortcrust pastry, enough to line a 23cm tart tin. See here.

350g frozen peas

3 tbsp olive oil

handful of fresh mint leaves, chopped

150g soft goats' cheese

2 eggs, beaten

200ml double cream

4 spring onions, finely sliced

salt & pepper, to taste

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6.

If you don't know how to make shortcrust pastry then follow the directions in the link above. Whilst the pastry is chilling, cook the peas in boiling water for three minutes, drain and refresh under cold water. Transfer them back into the empty pan and, using a hand blender, puree the peas and then stir in the chopped mint and season. Keep tasting and add more or less depending on how minty you want it. I ended up adding more than I thought I would need.

Whilst the tart case is blind baking, beat the eggs and gradually add the cream and spring onions. When the case is ready, spoon the pea mixture onto the base and pour over the egg and cream mixture. Finally scatter the goats' over the top. The tart will end up being rather full so I find it's easier to put the tart on a baking tray and onto the oven shelf before you add the egg mix. That way you don't end up with half of your creation all over the kitchen floor when you try and transfer it from worktop to oven. You have to come up with all sorts of tricks to get you through life when you're clumsy like moi.