Grilled Vegetable Tart with Olives

Puffed pasty – you delicious flaky son of a bitch. That’s right, I’ll say what everyone else is thinking. Mr Puff, you are so freakin’ good. Okay, now that I got that out of my system I can think clearly again.

So…

Cooking with puffed pastry is such a simple way to make any recipe seem fancy. It’s delicate and light, but packs big buttery carb flavor. You can either fill it up or layer it with any of your favorite ingredients and you’re practically guaranteed to get a tasty concoction. Since I had some laying around, this past weekend I decided to use puffed pastry to make a free form tart filled with a trio of grilled vegetables and a little chopped olive.

Okay, so a little back story on how I came up with this recipe. Two days ago my mom and I decided to boycott carbs for the next 7 days. We’re hoping it’ll give us some dieting/healthy eating momentum that we can carry on in the weeks to come (don’t worry, we’ll start reincorporating carbohydrates into our meals next week). Since the next 7 days might be difficult, we clearly needed to go out with a bang. So after I binged all Saturday, I decided to make something simple at night. I raided the fridge and grabbed the first few things I saw: fresh veggies, a couple of olives, and puffed pastry. The vegetables got grilled, olives chopped, and a few other ingredients were tossed together for a zesty tang. This grilled vegetable and olive tart also ends up being smokey, savory, crunchy, creamy, and oh-so dreamy. It’s a weird combination of being light and incredibly filling (probably cause you can’t just have one piece!). You’re gunna love it.

Oh…and two tarts were made that night, so you mayyy see the other later this week! ;)

1 zucchini

3/4 red bell pepper

1/2 onion

5 kalamata olives (chopped)

2 garlic cloves (minced)

1 sheet of puffed pastry (thawed)

1 1/2 tablespoon spicy brown mustard

1-2 oz monterey jack cheese (shredded)

1 egg

Salt/pepper/chili powder, to taste

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Slice the zucchini, red pepper, and onion. Sprinkle with salt/pepper. Place slices on a preheated grill and cook until lightly charred, about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove from grill and reserve.

Gently roll out puffed pasty so it’s slightly larger and the “seams” flatten out. Put onto a greased baking sheet.

Lightly score 1/2 centimeter along the edges of the pastry, making a border. This will be the raised edge of the tart. Brush with beaten egg and fold the edges over. In the center, spread the mustard (it will be a very light spread).

Scatter half of the cheese and all of the vegetables on top of the mustard. Sprinkle with the minced garlic and chopped olives. Give it a light dusting of chili powder and the remaining cheese.

Drizzle with olive oil and put into oven. Bake for 20-23 minutes, or until golden and crisp.

Serve with a salad. Enjoy!