This salmon, leek and pesto tart is a delicious way to boost your omega 3 intake. Lately I’ve been thinking of more ways to get oily fish into my diet as opposed to just eating salmon for dinner (which my husband isn’t a huge fan of) and this was one of those ideas. It turns out this tart it is quite delicious and makes a satisfying, tasty lunch served alongside some greens. The other great thing is you can freeze the left overs in single portions to use if you want at a later date – which is exactly what I’ll be doing with my last portion 🙂
Part of my inspiration for this came from Annabel Langbein. She has been one of my favourite NZ cooks for a long time now and I recently purchased her Winter Annual for some recipe inspiration. I wasn’t disappointed – there are some really yummy recipes. One of her recipes is for an olive oil pastry which I was keen to try out. Olive oil is a healthy fat that’s high in antioxidants and vitamin E, so replacing olive oil for butter in pastry as well as switching some of the white flour for wholemeal flour makes a healthier alternative. I slightly altered the recipe and used the pastry to create this delicious salmon, leek and pesto tart which I’ve been enjoying for lunch over the past few days. Here’s the recipe:
Salmon, Leek and Pesto Tart
Olive oil pastry
3/4 cup white flour
3/4 cup wholemeal flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon mixed herbs
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup water
Mix together the dry ingredients in one bowl. In another small bowl, mix together the olive oil and water. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and mix together with a knife until combined. Leave to rest for 10 minutes.
Grease a small size tart dish. Roll out the pastry to the shape of your tart dish and press in evenly.
For the salmon, leek and pesto tart filling:
1 large leek, finely chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil
180g boneless salmon fillet, skin removed.
5 eggs
2 tablespoons basil pesto
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 cup parmesean cheese
Salt and pepper
Rosemary leaves, to garnish
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
In a fry pan, heat the olive oil over a medium heat and add the finely chopped leek. Cook, stiring regularly for around 5-8 minutes, until the leek begins to soften. Once the leek is cooked, sprinkle evenly over the pastry base and set aside.
Next add the salmon fillet to the pan and cook for around 3 minutes each side. It will cook in the oven anyway, this is just so it’s easy to break apart. Set aside.
In a bowl, beat together the eggs, pesto, milk and cheese. Add a grind of salt and pepper. Pour the egg mixture over the pastry base. Break the salmon into chunks and sprinkle evenly over top.
Cook for 30-40 minutes, until the pastry is crisp and the filling is set in the middle. Garnish with rosemary leaves.
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