Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash Tart
Our niece just celebrated her 19th birthday. I can hardly believe it. I actually held her in my arms when she was 1 hour old and now she is in college. Where does the time go?
Thinking about her this week, I reminisced about the time we took her and her older sister on a trip with us.
Tim had to go to Paris for work, so we tagged along and I took the girls sightseeing while he was at work. I dragged them through the Louvre, Norte Dame, Versailles…and the biggest hit of all? Marie Antoinette’s farm.
After blowing through the palace as fast as they could (yeah, yeah, mirrors. Yeah, yeah, gold. Yeah, yeah, another bedroom.) we headed out to the farm which was about 4000 miles away from the palace. As a matter of fact, I’m not sure we were actually in France anymore. I’m almost certain I heard Russian being spoken and that they were asking for our visas. If I had realized how far it was, I would have packed a toothbrush and PJ’s. Or maybe some oxygen and granola.
When we finally reached our destination, my niece wanted to borrow my phone….to take pictures of the bunnies.
Bunnies? Seriously? You’ve come all the way to France to take pictures of bunnies? Gee, can’t get pictures like that back home. Most people come to Paris to take pictures of the Mona Lisa or the Eiffel Tower. Suckers! They could be getting pictures of French bunnies instead. What are they thinking?
On and on it went…geese, chickens, goats, ducks…and the piece de resistance, the gooey chocolate truffle on top of the decadent eclair? The donkeys!
There were big ones, small ones, shy ones, bold ones all standing in a field that smelled like eau de poo poo.
“Take my picture with this one!” my niece squealed. “Now this one! Oh, that one is so cute!”
After more pictures of her with donkeys than a whole herd of paparazzi get of Halle Berry working the red carpet at the Oscars, we were finally done.
“Can we email the pictures to my parents tonight?” she asked.
Yes, as long as you take one of me with the donkeys and caption it: which one is the real jackass, the one standing in a field being petted, or the one who traveled several thousand miles to stand in a field, batting at flies and trying to not breathe through her nose?
Sadly, I have the feeling if we took her back, she’d still want to see the donkeys more than The Louvre. Sigh. I love my niece.
Ingredients:
Crust:
- 1 3/4 cups oat flour (or spelt flour–use 1/4 cup less of the spelt)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup millet flour
- 2 teaspoons dried sage or thyme
- 3 Tablespoons arrowroot powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 4 Tablespoons vegan butter, melted
- 1/2 cup almond milk
Topping:
- 3-4 cups thinly sliced butternut squash –you might need 2 depending not he size of the squash(from the neck – save the “bowl” for another use)
- 3-4 cups thinly sliced (large) sweet potatoes — try to get ones similar in size to the neck of the squash
- 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced leeks
- 2-3 Tablespoons garlic oil (you can use olive with 1/2 tsp. garlic powder instead)
- 4 teaspoons dried rosemary (chopped if you don’t like the long pieces)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Walnut Cream Sauce:
- 1 cup of walnuts, soaked overnight or at least several hours
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic (1 clove)
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon oil (olive or walnut if you have it)
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1/4 cup water
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 400
- Use a very sharp knife or mandolin to cut the peeled squash and potato into 1/4 inch thick slices. Toss them with the leeks, oil, rosemary and salt and put them on a lined baking sheet (s). Roast for 15 minutes till slightly tender but not cooked fully. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.
- While the squash is cooking, make the walnut cream sauce by putting all of the ingredients in a high speed blender and blending till smooth and creamy (drain the walnuts first…do not put in the soaking water)
- To make the crust: Combine the flour(s), salt, arrowroot, baking powder and sage(or thyme) in a medium bowl. Add the butter and mix till it resembles wet sand. Add the milk and mix the dough till it is smooth and comes together. You can always sprinkle a little more flour in if it too sticky.
- Turn the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper or silpat that is on a baking sheet. I like a baking sheet here instead of a pan so I can slide the tart off easily when it is cooked. Using your hands or rolling pin, press the dough into the desired shape (round or square), forming a rim around the edges.
- Spread the walnut mixture onto the inside of the crust.
- Alternating the sweet potato and Butternut squash, place the rounds into the crust and sprinkle with leeks between layers and on top (the thicker the crust, the more layers you’ll need inside so as not to be overwhelmed by crust in the finished product.
- Bake the tart for 20 minutes.
Enjoy!
