Harvest Tart With Pumpkin and Peppers

Harvest Tart With Pumpkin and Peppers
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
2½ hours
Rating
4(336)
Comments
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A savory, olive oil-crusted tart stuffed full of golden, roasted peppers, jammy onions and some freshly grated pumpkin is a great dinner party treat, although it's perfectly wonderful for a family evening repast as well. Salt the pumpkin ahead of time to draw out excess moisture, though if you are pressed for time you can skip this step. To perk up the caramelized intensity of the filling, it is helpful to fold in something zingy like olive or capers, or perhaps a good splash of lemon juice.

Featured in: A Good Appetite: A Dinner Party That’s Warm, Welcoming and Meatless

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Ingredients

Yield:6 servings
  • pounds pumpkin, preferably cheese pumpkin, or butternut squash, peeled, seeded and coarsely grated
  • teaspoons fine sea salt
  • cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
  • ¾cup plus 2½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing
  • 1red bell pepper, seeded and cut into ¼-inch strips
  • 1yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into ¼-inch strips
  • 1sweet onion, such as Vidalia, thinly sliced
  • cup chopped pitted black olives (kalamatas are good)
  • 2teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
  • 1teaspoon smoked sweet paprika
  • ½teaspoon black pepper
  • 1garlic clove, minced
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

723 calories; 35 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 24 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 93 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 6 grams sugars; 12 grams protein; 825 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    At least 2 hours or the night before baking, toss the pumpkin with ¼ teaspoon salt in a colander set over a bowl. Place a heavy weight on top, cover with plastic and refrigerate. Discard any liquid in bottom of bowl.

  2. Step 2

    To make the pastry, in a large bowl combine 4½ cups flour and 1½ teaspoons salt. With pastry cutter or fork, mix in ¾ cup oil until it forms coarse crumbs. Add about ⅔ cup very cold water, a few tablespoons at a time, until mixture just comes together. You may not need to add all the water, or you may need to use more water to achieve the right texture. The dough should be stretchier than a pie crust. Form into a ball, cover with plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

  3. Step 3

    Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toss the peppers and onion with 2½ tablespoons oil and ½ teaspoon salt. Spread on 2 large baking sheets in one layer. Roast, tossing occasionally, until vegetables are caramelized and golden, about 40 minutes.

  4. Step 4

    In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin, pepper-onion mixture, olives, thyme, paprika, black pepper and garlic.

  5. Step 5

    Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and grease a large baking sheet. Dust a work surface lightly with flour. Roll out dough into a 17-by-12-inch rectangle. With long side facing you, spread vegetable mixture evenly over right half of dough. Dab edges of dough with water. Fold left half over filling and pinch edges firmly to seal. Using knife, cut a slit in center of crust, pulling back edges slightly to form a 2½-inch hole.

  6. Step 6

    Transfer crust to baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking until vegetables are fork tender and crust is well browned, 35 to 40 minutes longer. Cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Ratings

4 out of 5
336 user ratings
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Comments

This is my favorite vegetarian main dish to make for Thanksgiving or other autumn feasts. I'm not vegan, so I usually add goat cheese. I also usually use kabocha squash instead of pumpkin or butternut.

This was a great vegetarian dish for Thanksgiving. Based on prior reviews, I combined this filling with the dough from Melissa Clark's Savory Pumpkin Tart (Citrouillat) recipe on this site. There was more dough than I needed. The crust came out very well - crisp and flaky. I pre-roasted the squash so that it was also caramelized, and added lemon zest and feta to the filling. Delicious.

I made the crust in the food processor with good success. Flavor is a bit bland-agree that goat or feta would be a nice addition. More crust than I think necessary. Next time I might put in a casserole dish and just make half the crust to put on top.

I’m disappointed with this recipe, especially the crust. Use a different crust, if you must make it. I like the smokiness of the paprika, but this isn’t really ready to be the centerpiece of a vegetarian Thanksgiving spread. The NYT mushroom wellington — THAT lives up to the hype. This is just falls flat flavor-wise.

butter crust is a dramatic improvement. For vegans, a crisco crust would probably work better. The addition of feta goes a long way (though a tangy goat could work too). I like Nicoise olives as they are slightly sweeter and compliment the peppers. Finally, I like to add a touch of indian spices like Garam Masala. I made a modified garam masala with less cumin and more cinnamon. Takes a one note sweet pepper/onion taste and makes it much more complex and interesting.

I made this with Pepperidge Farm puff pastry dough, which is also vegan. I used one box for the amount of filling this recipe makes - one sheet on the bottom and one on top. The pastry browned during the 20 minutes at 425 without even needing the additional time at 350. Next time I would probably reduce the oven temperature and cook for a bit longer. Delicious!

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