Some of you are still holding strong on those New Year’s Resolutions, and while individuals such as myself, refuse to make promises I can’t keep I like to change things up every now again to sort of even things out.
That, and I bought a tart pan that I really wanted to play with it.
I didn’t really put much thought into the tart because I really just wanted to make something savory in my new tart pan. Tarts are amazing like that. You need some dough and then some eggs (for binding), meat or veggies (or both) and cheese (optional). And it was the perfect excuse to use the Smoked Gouda that I bought for no damn reason at all.
For the crust, I used a lightened up recipe from my usual pie crusts, but if you don’t have a tart pan you can easily use the following:
– Unrolled crescent dough pressed into a pie plate
– Frozen pie crust
– No crust (for the health conscious) and a pie plate lightly sprayed with cooking spray.
Me? I used the following:
6 tablespoons of unsalted butter, softened
2 Tablespoons non-fat milk
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 cup of egg substitute, or 1/4 cup egg whites, or 1 egg
1 1/4 cup of all purpose flour
I whipped the butter in my Kitchen Aid Mixer to soften it and make it fluffy for about 3 minutes on low. While it was mixing, I combined the milk, salt and egg substitute in a bowl and whisked it together. I added the egg mixture to the Mixer and then slowly added in the flour, 1/4 cup at a time. When it was sticky and doughy, I formed it into a ball, wrapped it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for an hour.
After an hour, I pressed the dough into my nonstick tart pan and blind baked it for 30 minutes on 350*.
While the tart dough was baking, I whipped up my tart filling.
Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon of extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 cup of thinly sliced scallions (about 3 or 4 scallions)
3 cups of fresh baby spinach
1 cup non fat milk
1 cup of smoked gouda, shredded
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup egg substitute, or 3/4 cup of egg whites, or 3 eggs
Directions:
Heat the Tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet. When skillet is hot, add the scallions and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
Add spinach to the skillet and fold spinach constantly to allow it to wilt. And don’t worry if it all doesn’t fit in the pan. The spinach will shrink as it cooks.
See?
When the spinach is cooked, remove the spinach and scallions from the heat. In a separate bowl, combine milk, egg substitute and salt with a whisk. When fully combined, add the spinach mixture and cheese.
When the tart crust is done blind baking, pour the filling into the tart pan. I set mine on a baking sheet in case there was some boiling over.
Bake for 35 minutes at 350.
Its done when the eggy mixture is firm.
Remove from tart pan…which honestly was a pain in the ass for me. But once you do, allow it to cool.
And once it cools, you can serve yourself. This recipe makes 10 servings.
Each serving clocks in at 205 cals, 12 grams of fat, 15 grams of carbs, 1 gram of fiber, and 7 grams of protein.
I served mine with a side salad. This makes a great lunch or dinner….hell, even breakfast if you like. The smoked gouda is an excellent addition as it gives the tart all the taste of smoky bacon but without all the grease…and all the meat. If smoked gouda isnt your thing, I would add a nice sharp cheddar instead.
Enjoy!
Food Snob 2.0 
oh yum – I love smoked gouda. I am going to try this but you have to let me in on your secret of getting it out of the tart pan as I have had little success and yours looks perfect!