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Emily Han
Emily Han
Emily Han is a Los Angeles-based recipe developer, educator, herbalist, and author of Wild Drinks & co*cktails and co-author of Wild Remedies. For recipes and classes, check out her personal site.
updated Feb 3, 2020
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Every so often there comes a restaurant meal which really inspires us in our own kitchens. This is a dish influenced by my own recent visit to the Porthminster Café, a breezy restaurant nestled below an ocean cliff just steps away from the stunningly blue water in St. Ives, Cornwall.
Headed by Australian chef and surfer Michael Smith, the Porthminster Café’s menu mixes Mediterranean and Asian influences, and it’s heavy on the local seafood. As a vegetarian, I had to skip many of these specialties, so I ordered the goat cheese tart.
As much as I enjoy goat cheese tarts, they’re so ubiquitous as the vegetarian option in English restaurants that my expectations were tempered. But when it arrived at my table in a light, crisp phyllo shell, I realized it was no ordinary goat cheese tart. Instead of the usual eggy filling, there was a single round of melty goat cheese atop layers of savory, grilled vegetables harvested from the restaurant’s adjacent garden.
My home version does not include every component of that particular tart, and from reviews of the restaurant, it appears that their tart changes over the seasons – sometimes there’s the addition of sun-dried tomato, other times sweet potato. But I tried to capture several of the things I liked best about that memorable tart: the light phyllo dough shell, the grilled vegetables, a hint of coriander, and a dollop of lemony hummus to complement the other Mediterranean flavors.
For the goat cheese, go with something that’s semi-firm or one that’s soft and crumbly. The important thing is the tangy flavor that goat cheese brings to the dish.
Tester’s Notes
A vegetarian dish that involves grilled vegetables and goat cheese isn’t anything new. This tart, however, is the farthest thing from boring. It’s fun, surprisingly delightful, and a surefire crowd-pleaser.
Perhaps it’s the way it’s prepared (sprinkling some ground coriander over the veggies before roasting), or the way it’s presented (layering the vegetables one by one, inside an impressive phyllo bowl). And of course, there’s the layer of caramelized onions and crumbled goat cheese over the top.
You can serve this tart as an appetizer, as I did at our recent office Friendsgiving, but it also makes a nice entrée for lunch or a light dinner, along with a side salad.
– Kelli, December 2015
Serves 2 to 8
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
For the phyllo shells:
- 4 sheets
frozen phyllo dough, thawed
- 2 tablespoons
butter, melted
For the filling:
- 2
medium white or yellow onions
- 1
small eggplant (about 6 ounces)
- 2
medium zucchini
Olive oil
Kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon
ground coriander
- 2
marinated artichoke hearts, quartered
- 1 teaspoon
fresh thyme leaves, coarsely chopped
- 4 ounces
goat cheese, thinly sliced or crumbled
- 2 tablespoons
lemony hummus or olive tapenade, for serving (optional)
Equipment
- 2
(12-ounce) ramekins
Instructions
For the phyllo shells:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush ramekins with melted butter.
Take a sheet of phyllo and brush with melted butter. Place second sheet on top and brush with butter. Cut layered phyllo into two rectangles. Place one rectangle on top of the other, rotating it 45 degrees. Gently press phyllo stack into a 12-ounce ramekin to make a cup shape. Repeat process to make second phyllo shell.
Place ramekins on baking sheet and bake until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes, and then gently remove phyllo shells from ramekins and place on the wire rack.
For the filling:
Keep the oven at 350°F.
Peel the onions and cut into thin slices. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat in a heavy skillet. Add onions and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions soften. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are deep brown and caramelized, about 30 minutes.
Slice eggplant lengthwise into ribbons about 1/4-inch thick and 1-inch wide. (The ribbons should be similar to zucchini in length and width.) Brush both sides of each slice with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and half of the coriander. Grill until brown and tender, about 5 minutes per side.
Slice zucchini lengthwise into ribbons about 1/4-inch thick. Brush both sides of each slice with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and the remaining coriander. Grill until brown and tender, about 3 minutes per side.
To assemble and bake the tart, place the phyllo shells on a baking sheet. Divide and layer eggplant, artichoke hearts, and zucchini in each phyllo shell, sprinkling thyme between each layer. Top with onions and then goat cheese. Bake for 20 minutes. If phyllo shells start to get too brown, cover loosely with foil.
To serve, top each tart with a tablespoon of lemony hummus or olive tapenade, if using.
Filed in:
appetizer
Baking
Bread
Casserole
Cheese
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