Goat Cheese and Herbs Tart

My new double oven works perfectly and even though lately I have been very busy with my life I have no more excuses not to bake. Therefore, today, I am putting out something straight from the oven, and my favorite kind of dish--a tart.

I made it already a couple of times for lunch with friends and have been asked to share the recipe. I think this tart is a perfect spring dish--light and very aromatic thanks to herbs.

Many of my herbs did not survive the harsh winter we had but those that did and a new I planted last week are already big enough to be picked up. Any kind of herbs can be used for that tart but my favorite ones are chives, lemon thyme, and Greek oregano, all of which combine nicely with the cheese filling.

As always, I made my own crust for this tart and it makes a huge quality difference so I would not use any store bought dough. Pastry dough is very easy. It can be made in no time, a couple of days ahead in a food processor or by hand and baked just before serving.

With a light salad and a glass of wine there is nothing better for a Sunday lunch than this tart.



Goat Cheese and Herbs Tart

Ingredients:

For the pastry:
1 and 1/4 cup all purpose flour,
6 tbsp cold, unsalted butter, cut into cubes,
2 tbsp vegetable shortening,
a pinch of salt,
4 tbsp ice-cold water,

For the filling:
1 cup cottage cheese,
1 large log ( 10 oz) goat cheese,
3 egg yolks,
1/4 cup all purpose flour,
4 tbsp unsalted room temperature butter,
3 tbsp chopped chives, thyme and oregano.

Preparation:
1. To make a dough, in a bowl of a food processor mix flour, butter, shortening and salt. Mix together until large crumbs form. Add ice-cold water and pulse until a smooth dough forms. Flatten the dough into disk, wrap in a foil and let it chill in a refrigerator for at least one hour, or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 350F.
3. Roll the dough to a size of an 11'' tin and transfer it to a 10'' baking tart shell with removable walls. Bake it for about 15 minutes minutes until set but still pale gold.
4. To make a filling, in a food processor beat the cheeses, yolks, flour, and butter until smooth. Add chopped herbs.
5. Spread the filling on the pre-baked crust and bake for about 30 minutes until the top is set and the crust turns gold.