This savoury Mediterranean tart is simple to make and tastes amazing with vegan and gluten-free tahini pastry, a garlicky hummus base and roasted vegetables on top.
Mix the pastry ingredients together by pulsing in a food processor a few times until it is well combined. (Thermomix : 20 secs / sp. 4, scraping down half way)Pour the mixture into the tart dish and press down and up the sides to push the mixture together to form the tart case. Cover and put in the fridge or freezer to chill for 10 minutes.
60 g rice flour, 60 g chestnut flour, 80 g arrowroot, 40 g tahini, 50 g vegan butter, 80 g coconut oil, 50 g water, 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast, pinch salt
Once the pastry has chilled to harden up a bit, stab the base a few times all over with a fork, then line with with a crumpled up piece of baking paper (crumpling it softens it enough to line the pastry) and fill with baking beans (or rice or dried beans). Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 200°C / 400°F until the pastry is browned and there is no grey colour on the base. Check it after 15 minutes – if it is browned on the sides but not quite ready on the bottom, take the paper and baking beans out and turn the temperature down to 180°C to cook the base for a few more minutes. Once cooked through, take it out of the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.
Topping
Slice the top off the garlic bulb then wrap it in foil. Roast the wrapped garlic in the oven at 200°C / 400°F for 40 minutes (or 30 minutes in the air fryer).
1 garlic bulb
Meanwhile, thinly slice the red onion and courgette (zucchini) into slices and lay them in a non-stick roasting tin (or line with baking paper if it is not non-stick). Pour over the olive oil and salt and pepper. Mix together with your hands to ensure all the red onion and courgette slices are covered with the oil and seasoning. Roast in the oven at 200°C / 400°F for 20 minutes. (This can be done at the same time as the pastry and the garlic).
2 courgettes, 1 small red onion, 1 tablespoon olive oil, pinch salt and pepper
Remove the vegetables and garlic from the oven. Unwrap the garlic and squeeze the browned garlic cloves out of their cases then roughly mix into the hummus with a fork.
1 garlic bulb, 150 g hummus
Assemble the tart
When the pastry case has cooled, spoon the roasted garlic hummus into it and spread it to the edges. Then place the red onion and courgette slices in a pretty pattern on top of the filling. Sprinkle with fresh thyme (or your favourite fresh herb) and black sesame seeds or nigella seeds.
a few thyme or oregano leaves, black sesame seeds or nigella seeds
Serve with a fresh green salad lightly dressed with a simple French dressing or, for a heartier dish, serve with some potatoes and wilted spinach or steamed broccoli.
Notes
The cooking time for the pastry will depend somewhat on the size of your tart tins. I have used this to make long, rectangular tarts, small heart-shaped tarts and even tiny little tartlets for canapés. It will take roughly the same time but just go by the look of the pastry rather than exact timings.
This is my favourite topping but any roasted vegetables will work well if you want to use others.
To make this really quick and easy to prepare, you can swap for shop-bought pastry, and shop-bought hummus mixed with a couple of teaspoons of black garlic paste instead. Then all you need to do is roast the veggies!