Spring Onion and Pea Buckwheat Tart
“This tart can be made with any tender spring vegetables from your garden or the farmers market. It’s very rich and is best topped with an acidic herb salad, my favourite being parsley and pea shoot.” -Ellen Mitchell, Baijiu
Tart shell
| 1 c | buckwheat flour |
| 1 c | all-purpose flour |
| 1 c | (½ stick) butter, cold |
| 1 t | salt |
| 8 T | ice water |
In a large bowl, whisk together the buckwheat flour, all-purpose flour and salt. Using a cheese grater, grate the cold butter and add to the bowl with the flour. Prepare a bowl of water with ice cubes and a tablespoon measuring spoon ready beside your mixing bowl so that your ice water is handy when you are ready for it. Use your hands to combine the butter and flour into a sandy mixture. Brush handfuls of the flour mixture in between your hands as if you were wiping them off, so that you are creating elongated pieces of butter that are coated in the flour. Work quickly and don’t worry too much about it being overly uniform, as the shreds of butter will create flakiness in your crust.
Sprinkle 6 tablespoons ice water over the flour and butter mixture and press together with your hands. If it still seems too sandy, add another 2 tablespoons or more if necessary. Work the dough into a flat round disc (this shape will make it easier to roll out later). Wrap and let rest in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour.
Sprinkle your work service lightly with all-purpose flour and use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a large circular sheet. You want it to be about a half centimeter thick. Carefully lay the dough over your tart pan or pie plate and trim the edges.
To blind bake the tart, lay a piece of parchment inside the shell and fill with dry rice or beans. Bake for 15 minutes at 400ºF. Carefully remove the parchment with the beans or rice and bake for another 10 minutes, until lightly golden and crispy looking across the bottom of the pan. This may take longer if you are using a glass pie plate.
Filling
| 3 | eggs |
| 3 | egg yolks |
| 1½ c | heavy cream |
| 2 T | smooth Dijon mustard |
| 1 t | salt |
| 6-8 | spring onions |
| 24 | shelling peas (snap or English) |
While the pastry is resting, slice the spring onions in half lengthwise. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan over medium. Gently sear the cut sides of the spring onions until they are a nice golden colour. Turn them over and season the cut side with salt. Remove from heat and let them cool in the pan so that they soften as they cool. Shell the peas and set aside.
While the crust is blind baking, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, cream, mustard and salt to create a custard. Set aside.
Remove the crust from the oven and arrange the spring onions inside it, alternating end to end so that each piece has some greens and some whites. Follow with the shelled peas and then pour the custard mixture into the crust. Fill to about 90 per cent full as it will puff a little bit. Return the tart to the oven and bake for 15 minutes at 400ºF.
Cool the tart about 10 minutes before slicing, top with parsley and serve with a pea shoot salad if using.