Tuesday Tart from Seville
I love to travel.
Every night I travel to Italy, Spain and France.......via my computer.
I guess you can call me an "armchair traveler". I could tell you every good hotel in Piedmont and fabulous chateau in Bordeaux. What airline flies direct from New York to Milan and how many miles Paris is to Provence via the high speed train.
I am always planning my next vacation, years in advance.
Though we only take 1 trip a year, I make it worth while. I do as much research as possible, eg. google maps, best places to eat, neighborhoods, tripadvisor, yelp reviews, word of mouth, blogs, etc. In the end, it makes for a memorable vacation.
I could be your food travel agent for sure.
Last night I went to Seville, Spain without even missing a blog post.
I made this gorgeous tart and thought of the sunny region of Spain and how I can't wait to visit one day (soon). Serrano ham and Manchego cheese from Spain along with a Spanish fig spread........
Try it. French, Italian or Spanish.
Open a good bottle of D.O.C. or A.O.C. wine from the region, a cheese from the same region and make a simple recipe from that same place, and for an evening you are transported to somewhere special.
I have just saved you a lot of money on airfare.
I have changed the recipe slightly, doubling the onions and baking individual tarts instead of one large tart. Next time I make this I will make one individual tart.
The recipe calls for fig spread, such as Dalmatia, which is from Greece and has an orange flavor to it. I had fig preserves with some dried California figs, so I opted to go with that instead. Use whatever you have access to.
Torta di Sevilla: (adapted from Food52)
1 sheet of defrosted frozen puff pastry
2 onions, sliced thin
olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp brown sugar
salt & pepper
approx 4 tbsp of fig preserves or fig spread mixed w/ some chopped dried figs
4 oz. Serrano (Spanish ham) or prosciutto
4 oz. of Manchego or Iberico (Spanish) cheese, sliced thin
chopped walnuts for the top (optional)
Start by caramelizing the onions.
In a heavy skillet, cook the onions in some olive oil on low heat for about 15 minutes until turning golden. Add the brown sugar, thyme and the splash of balsamic vinegar the last few minutes of cooking. Set aside to cool the onions. Season w/ salt & pepper.
Roll out the dough into a large rectangle and fit onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
Spread some of the fig spread in the center of the puff pastry, leaving a 1" border on each side.
Drape the slices of Serrano ham over the fig spread & dried figs (if using) and then with some slices of the Spanish cheese.
Spoon the cooled onion mixture over the ham and cheese and sprinkle with chopped walnuts.
Fold up the border to create edges to hold the filling in.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes at 375F. (I accidentally cooked mine at a higher temp and they turned out too well done, as you can see in the photos).
Delicious! Served with a salad and a nice Spanish wine and this is all you will need (well, I would still rather GO to Sevilla!) to feel like you are on vacation.
Bon Voyage and enjoy your trip!
Comments
An excellent post, as always.
Dil
This year our fig trees are showing out and I'm using all I can that the birds don't get to.