Butternut Squash Tart

Butternut Squash Tart

Ingredients

• Filling:
• 2 medium Butternut Squash, peeled & cubed into roughly 1 inch pieces - no need for uniformity (approx. 2 lbs) Alternatively you can use Sugar or Cheese Pumpkin.
• 2 teaspoons of Kosher Salt
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 medium yellow onion, peeled, halved and sliced thinly
• 4 Cloves of Garlic, peeled and quartered
• 1/4 cup of finely chopped rosemary
• 1/3 cup of freshly chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese
• Pie Crust: • 4 cups of bread flour (600 grams) for whole wheat crust, use 50% whole wheat bread flour • 3/4 cups of unsalted butter, chilled & cubed (3 sticks / 345 grams) • 1 tsp. of Kosher Salt (5g) • 1 cup of ice water
• 4 cups of bread flour (600 grams) for whole wheat crust, use 50% whole wheat bread flour
• 3/4 cups of unsalted butter, chilled & cubed (3 sticks / 345 grams)
• 1 tsp. of Kosher Salt (5g)
• 1 cup of ice water
• 1/2 Heavy Cream (for final step after tart is baked)
• 1 Optional egg yolk, watered down with 1 tbsp of water (for brushing the top crust)

Step by Step

1. The night before:
2. Peel and cube the Squash into roughly 1 inch pieces. Spread the pieces on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt, toss and cover the sheet with plastic wrap. Place another baking sheet on top, weight it down and place in the refrigerator over night to press water from the squash.
3. Prepare the pastry:
4. The secret to making this amazing crust is that everything needs be kept as cold as possible, if you’re using a stand mixer, combine the flour, butter and salt in the metal bowl of your mixer. Chill the bowl, with paddle attachment and ingredients in it for 10-15 minutes. If you’re using a food processor to mix the dough, follow the same steps with the bowl, blade & ingredients.
5. When mixing with stand mixer, mix for roughly 4 -5 minutes on a low speed until you get course crumbs and the butter is largely broken up.
6. When mixing with a food processor, pulse the chilled ingredients, at first with long pulses, then shorter until you get course crumbs.
7. Be careful not to overdo the mixing / pulsing, you want the butter be broken up into chunks and beads, not to have it melt and disappear
8. Next, for either mixing method, add the ice water and mix just until the dough comes together, about a minute for the stand mixer, a number of good pulses for the food processor
9. Remove the dough from the bowl, pack it together into a ball and then flatten it out into a rectangle like shape about an inch thick or so. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (or at least 4 hours).
10. Cooking day:
11. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
12. Grease a large baking pan with butter or spray oil
13. Drain the squash in a colander and simultaneously, place a large saucepan over medium heat, melting the butter
14. Sauté the sliced onion, stirring occasionally for 7 to 10 minutes. The onion should begin to take on a golden color
15. On a floured surface, roll out the dough till its large enough to cover the baking pan. Work as quickly as you can to keep the dough cool. If you can’t get the shape quite right, don’t sweat it as its easy enough to cut off a wayward piece and reattach where you need it by wetting the edges of place where its being added and rolling it out
16. Peel the dough off the surface and place it over the baking pan. Place the squash over half the area, spread the remaining ingredients evenly over the squash, retaining just a little of the parsley & rosemary. Mix up the ingredients just a little.
17. Wet the edges of the dough all the way round, then fold the dough over, pressing the edges together to seal the pocket around the ingredients
18. Cut a crosshair slit roughly 2” long in the top center of the crust and peel back the corners to reveal a square hole in the dough.
19. Press some of the remaining bits of Parsely & Rosemary randomly into the top surface of the dough, it will make for a beautiful effect.
20. Brush the slightly beaten egg yolk onto the surface of the dough (optional)
21. Bake for 20 minutes then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 30 to 35 minutes longer. Squash will be fork tender if done
22. Remove from oven and pour cream into the center hole. Let cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. Can be served at room temperature.