Butternut Squash, Potato, and Arugula Tart – A New Favorite

Butternut squash is perhaps my favorite vegetable during the late fall and winter months. Steamed, roasted, pureed – I will gladly eat it any way. From its buttery sweet taste on the tongue to the way it mixes with flavors such as nutmeg, pepper, goat cheese, and olive oil. At no other time of the year am I able to push the good ol’ sweet potato over in favor of another orange veggie.

With the acquisition of a gorgeous Magimix food processor for my birthday, I made a butternut squash soup last week along with herb butter atop our crusty bread for dipping. However, this did not quite satisfy my cravings for the winter squash so, this week I decided to make a butternut squash, potato, and arugula tart. Based upon a recipe from my favorite French expatriate, Beatrice Peltre, conquering a tart seemed like the perfect thing to do for a spectacular lunch.

Upon moving to Northwest Arkansas, I have found it a bit difficult to find everything I need for cooking at one store. For those of you that read The Dean Files regularly, you know of my love for Ozark Natural Foods (ONF). I truly love this store and everyone who works there. However, they do not always carry everything I need, especially for unique or gourmet recipes. So, very often, I find myself visiting 2-4 stores in one day to meet all my grocery list needs. This can be a bit frustrating, as grocery shopping becomes a half day experience. When doing my tart shopping, for instance, I started at ONF, made my way over to Target, scooted over to Pinnacle Station, and ended up at Harp’s in search of arugula and puff pastry. I get a wee bit tired just talking about it but needless to say, I was ecstatic when I finally left Harp’s with every item checked off my list.

I first made a tart last year and loved the result. Upon venturing into tart territory again this year, I think I am now ready to experiment with a variety of toppings. With a good knowledge of prepping and cooking the pastry, how to prep/cook certain toppings before placing them on the pastry, and about how long it takes to make this all happen, I am ready to embark upon an entirely new adventure in tarting soon.

For this delicious tart, I roasted the squash, boiled the potatoes, and sliced the onions whilst the pastry chilled (after prepping) in the fridge. I also mixed fresh ricotta, tarragon, thyme, salt, pepper in a bowl for the first layer.

After a good chill and smoothing the cheese mixture across the pastry, up to one inch from the edge, it was time to spread the veggies on top.

Half an hour later and viola! Jason and I sliced it up and enjoyed the sweet, savory taste of the tart.

Next time I will double the amount of squash that I roast, as we both found that was our favorite flavor. However, it was quite delicious and we saved half for lunch the following day. Twenty minutes in a 300 degree oven did just the trick for a fresh slice.

What are you cooking up for yourself during this cold and blustery part of the year?

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