Carrot, brie and hot honey tart
And lots of ideas for a vegetable-heavy Christmas meal
Welcome to To Vegetables, With Love, a celebration of a vegetable life, less ordinary.
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Today’s recipe comes together with essentially with just three key ingredients – brie, carrots, puff pastry. The brilliant thing about this tart is that it looks fancy, luxurious, and while it is both those things, it was also essentially a fridge clean-out dish for me.
A few weeks ago, my local food coop was selling huge wheels of French brie for $5.43. I don’t eat a lot of brie on a regular day, but at that price, I had to have it. If my mother taught me nothing else, she impressed upon me to never miss a bargain. In the days after Thanksgiving, I made a version of this tart, but such was the enormity of this wheel of brie, I still had half of it left. And then I remembered that singular piece of puff pastry I still had in the fridge, and the bag of young carrots I had in my crisper. This beautiful tart was born.
I love how vegetable forward this tart is. The carrots, ever humble and consistently delicious, are indisputably the star of the show. It is so much more fun to wow our guests with something simple. You don’t need to slave away to feast well.
This week
TENDERHEART was named one of New York Times Best Cookbooks of 2023. Such an honor to be named amongst so many wonderful books that were published this year.
TENDERHEART was also named as one of the 13 Best Cookbooks of 2023 by KCRW Good Food, one of my favourite food podcasts.
A VEGETARIAN CHRISTMAS
I’ve trolled the internet for the best of my vegetarian recipes which would be perfect for your Christmas meal.
Something to snack on:
Spanakopita ‘sausage rolls’ or this fun furikake tofu cocktail. This easy vegan sun-dried tomato and white bean dip can be served with crudite or used in many other ways.
A few salads, of course:
This warm roasted carrot salad (gift link) is a winner.
Potatoes are always essential - make it bright and tangy with this tzatziki potato salad (gift link) or this vegan mayo based one.
I’m going to advocate hard for this broccoli salad (gift link) - it is SUCH a crowd pleaser and I am not joking when I say it lasts in the fridge for 5+ days (the apples will not oxidize because of the vinegar dressing). So if you are having lots of gatherings, make a big batch and serve it again and again (I often make one at the start of the week and eat it every day of the week. I love it).
For a hearty Brussels sprouts salad, try this one with tofu and brown rice and a sesame dressing. Or how about this raw Brussels sprout caesar from my book Neighbourhood.
For a hearty noodle salad, try this mango and cabbage rice vermicelli salad, this Spring pad thai salad, or this classic cold peanut butter noodles (gift link).
A caprese type salad is an easy and adaptable dish to include. If you’re in Australia, this plum caprese is a good one. If tomatoes aren’t seasonal, all is not lost with this slow roasted tomato version with basil gremolata.
Something baked:
The perfect vegetarian main comes in the form of this playful glazed butternut, brushed with a hoisin marmalade glaze. Not traditional but who cares when you can serve this simple and satisfying mushroom parm. Or how about this summery lasagna? This whole roasted cauliflower with gochujang yoghurt from To Asia, With Love is visually and gastronomically pleasing.
These two gratins are also crowd-pleasers - vegan cashew cream potato gratin or this surprising gochujang sweet potato gratin.
Sweet endings:
I’m making my matcha miso and I think you should too. It’s egg free and vegan-friendly - I use coconut yoghurt which makes it so light and fresh. This lamington ice cream is also fun.
THIS WEEK’S RECIPE
Carrot, brie and honey tart
© Hetty Lui McKinnon for To Vegetables, With Love
This tart can be prepped ahead and stored in the fridge for 3 or 4 days and reheated when you’re ready to eat. I can’t see any issues with freezing it either. Just make sure to drizzle over the honey only when you are ready to eat.
And if you’re looking at ways to adapt this recipe, here are some ideas:
- Any melting cheese could be used in place of the brie – camembert is a natural sub, but cheddar or gruyere would also work particularly nicely. Fontina or taleggio would be nice too. Want something tart and sharp? Try a nice goats cheese, or even a gorgonzola dolce. Remember, some cheeses are saltier than others so season accordingly.
- Brussels sprouts would be my first choice as a straight sub for the carrots here. I say this because I LOVE brussels sprouts drizzled with honey. Other veg like cauliflower would work nicely too. And here is a wildcard – pears! I love using pears in savory tarts. I made one a few years ago with cheddar, pear and lots of black pepper. So good.
Serves 4
450g (1 pound) carrots, cut into a uniform size
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper
240g (about 8 ounces) brie, chopped into small pieces or thinly sliced
1 sheet puff pastry (about 240g / 8 ounces),
1 teaspoon garlic or onion powder (or 1 grated garlic clove)
3-4 thyme sprigs, leaves picked
hot honey or regular honey, to drizzle
Preheat oven to 425˚F / 220˚C.
Place the carrots onto a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and black pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, until the carrots are partially cooked. Remove from the oven and scatter over the garlic or onion powder and toss to coat.
Reduce heat to 400˚F / 200˚C.
Place the puff pastry onto a sheet of baking paper. Give it a quick roll to make it slightly thinner and bigger. Using a dinner plate as a template, cut out an approximately 10-inch/ 25 cm circle. Leaving a 1/2-inch / 1.25cm border around the edge, lay the brie on top and then arrange the roasted carrots on top of the cheese. Top with the thyme leaves. Season with salt and black pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Roast until the pastry is puffed and golden, about 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and drizzle over the hot honey or regular honey.
Leave for 5 minutes and then cut and eat!
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🥦 My cookbook, Tenderheart is for cooking vegetables, all year round. Pick up your copy here. It is also mostly vegan (or vegan-izable) and gluten-free adaptable.
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That tart - oh my!! Thank you.
I've been looking for a potato salad for my annual octopus (a strange holiday tradition I've taken on since moving to Australia) and I think tzatziki potato salad feels very appropriate - Greece being where I got my taste for occy. And no I haven't seen My Octopus Teacher.