Sunflowers, when prepared properly, have a texture like aubergine and taste like a perfumed artichoke heart, making for a tasty seasonal tart.
Ingredients
Serves 4
10g butter
6 shallots, finely sliced
4 small or 2 large sunflower heads, with petals
1 glass of white wine
2 tsp oregano leaves
2 tsp thyme leaves
320g puff pastry
25g mature cheddar, grated
To make
1 Heat a splash of olive oil and the butter in a pan over a medium low heat. Add the shallots and a pinch of salt and sweat for about 10 mins, or until golden. Set aside.
2 To prepare your sunflower hearts, remove any petals (set aside) and pull off the seeds (if they don’t push out easily, lever out with a spoon). Next, use a knife to scrape the paper cases from the spongy base, discard, and trim away the green parts of the flower head, including the leaves and where the stem joins underneath. You should be left with a round, white, slightly spongy base of the flower head.
3 Slice the spongy bases into long strips and place in a bowl along with the wine and half of the oregano and thyme. Submerge the strips under the wine, ensuring 128 that they’re covered, otherwise they’ll oxidise and will go brown.
4 Return the pan of shallots to the hob, adding the sunflower strips, the wine and the remaining oregano and thyme leaves. Heat until the wine evaporates and the sunflower strips start to soften.
5 Line a round 32cm dish with baking paper. Spoon the sunflower and shallot mixture into the middle of the dish and leave to cool.
6 Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C/Fan 160C/Gas 4. When the filling is cool, roll out the puff pastry to the same size as the dish. Sprinkle the cheese over the filling and carefully place the pastry disc on top, ensuring all the ingredients are tucked inside. Press down the pastry and tuck in the edges. Prick a couple of holes in the centre to allow steam to escape. Bake for 35–40 mins, or until golden.
7 Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before turning out onto a serving platter. Discard the baking paper and scatter over the reserved sunflower petals to serve.
Taken from Buds & Blossoms by Liz Knight (Hardie Grant). Photography: Kim Lightbody
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