It’s her philosophy of using what you have on hand, and turning this meal into the next meal into the next, along with brilliant prose, that stuck with me and made me a life-long raving fan. I’ve already given copies of her books as gifts to friends (and friends know I only give books I love).
This week, when I had a bowl of fresh English peas from my garden, but not nearly enough to constitute a “side dish” for a hungry family of four, I opened her book to a paragraph I had flagged for an olive oil tart dough with a ricotta custard filling, to be topped with whatever fresh vegetables you are graced with, cooked briefly in salted water.
I had peas, and garlic scapes, and flowering thyme.
Friends, it’s true: What grows together, goes together.
It was a match made in heaven.
The peas had an almost fruity quality sitting atop that salty ricotta custard, and the garlic scapes provided a subtle funky goodness.
The olive oil tart dough is unfussy but crisp like a cracker; not at all tough despite no special handling. A go-to of mine now, for certain. For some reason, skipping the step of chilling cubes of very cold butter and cutting that into flour without even slightly warming those carefully chilled cubes, makes this recipe feel more doable on an average Tuesday. You just stir in the olive oil, and chill the dough in the fridge for an hour.
I think this whole situation will be lovely with some parmesan and black pepper mixed into the tart dough, and jammy cherry tomatoes topping the ricotta later this summer.
Here’s the method for a tart that is endlessly improvisational.
Olive Oil Tart Dough with Ricotta Custard and Fresh Vegetbles
I have found basic, customizeable recipes like this very useful as a gardener. You need to have a repertoire of concepts that help you usher fresh harvests towards meals you want to eat.
Simple things like an add-whatever-vegetables-you-have tart fit the bill.
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