Butternut Squash and Goat's Cheese Tart

A couple of Sundays ago I was really pleased with a tart I cobbled together for Bailey using a butternut squash and some leftover shortcrust pastry that both needed eating, the veggies we had in the fridge and some gorgeous goat's cheese my mum had brought us from Spain.

Deciding what to eat on Sundays can be tricky in our house. We are sometimes at odds with one another as I am usually wracked with guilt after yet another Saturday of not sticking to Slimming World, while Bailey tends to fancy something encased in pastry. Fortunately this meal was a dead easy compromise as using the same fillings I made myself a stuffed half of butternut squash which was also very lovely. Perfect!

Since moving house I haven't found our tart dish anywhere so I'm pretty sure we don't have it anymore. This meant I had to make a sort of rustic tart where the pastry was basically folded over on itself. Bailey was quite dubious about this but actually it worked really well - I think I'll definitely be making a lot more tarts like this and might not even bother replacing the missing dish.

Bailey was really impressed with his Butternut Squash and Goat's Cheese Tart, he said he thinks we should even make it again for when guests come over. It's also pretty healthy as it contains 5 types of veggies. Perhaps a festive version of this involving Stilton and walnuts could be something really tasty to make in the next few weeks.

Recipe:
Half a butternut squash
1 courgette
1 red pepper
2 cloves garlic
Dried red chilli flakes to taste
1 tsp thyme
2 red onions
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp Truvia
250g shortcrust pastry
7 cherry tomatoes
90g French goat's cheese
Salt and Pepper

Preheat the oven to 225 degrees C. Peel and chop the butternut squash into chunks. Chop the garlic finely. Deseed and slice the red pepper and slic the courgette. Add the veg to an oven dish and sprinkle with the chilli flakes, thyme and plenty of salt and black pepper. Roast the veggies in the oven until soft.

Meanwhile, peel and slice the red onions and add to a pan with the balsamic vinegar and Truvia. Cook gently over a low heat until the onions are soft and sweet. 

Line an oven dish with greaseproof baking paper. Roll out the pastry into a large, thin circle like a pizza base and place on top of the greaseproof paper.

Wait until the veg are roasted before beginning to assemble your tart. Spread the pastry evenly with the onions.

Top with the roast veg, ensuring a nice even spread of the different types of veg.

Chop the cherry tomatoes in half and arrange them, seeds down, on top of the veg on the tart wherever there are little gaps. Pull the edges of the pastry into the middle of the veg to make a rustic tart shape. Tuck it in neatly and press it together to ensure it doesn't all fall apart in the oven!

Place in the oven for around 10 minutes or until the pastry is just starting to brown. Then take the tart out of the oven, slice the goat's cheese into thin disks and arrange on top of the tart.

Once the goat's cheese is browned on top and the tart is cooked through, take it out of the oven and serve with your favourite potatoes for a veg-packed delicious meal.