Last week I was walking through the market. If you know me well, it’s one of my favorite things to do on the weekend! I came across a stand just before it was closing and was just enamored by the beauty of these spring broccoli rabe blossoms. Broccoli rabe is also known as rapini, spring broccoli and broccoli rabe. I’d never seen blossoms like these before, and just had to pick them up. Two days later, I was in the studio and developed this savory spring vegetable tart recipe around these blossoms and it turned out absolutely delicious!

First off the crust is gluten free which is always a win these days for many – it’s a melt in your mouth buttery, flaky crust and easy to make! If you’d prefer a regular crust, a traditional pie crust will work perfectly. The tart is layered with all sorts of spring vegetables like purple asparagus, potatoes, spring onions and micro greens. I added in a little feta and my béchamel sauce because it’s just. so. good.

This is a perfect dish to make for guests as it’s such a show stopper! If you can’t find broccoli rabe blossoms, feel free to substitute for spring onion blossoms (also pictured) or any edible blossoms you can find locally. If you happen to have leftovers, this tart is amazing for breakfast topped with a poached egg.

I’d love to hear what you think of this recipe! Get back to me below in the comments with any thoughts and make sure to share your weekend cooking with the community by using the hashtag #ckweekends.

Savory Spring Vegetable Tart with Broccoli Rabe

Ingredients

Filling

1 160g medium potato, any variety
3-4 purple asparagus spears or any variety
4-5 spring onions or about 1/4 cup chopped shallots
185 g feta cheese
55 g 1/3 cup béchamel sauce
17 g 1/2 cup, heaping micro greens
2 Tablespoons avocado oil or oil of choice
Pinch sea salt & pepper
Optional garnish
Edible flowers or spring broccoli flowering rabe, pictured
Wood sorrel
Fresh thyme

Gluten Free Crust

90 g 2/3 cup brown rice flour
70 g 1/2 cup GF flour blend
35 g 1/4 cup arrowroot flour
1 teaspoon fresh thyme finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
110 g 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons ice water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease tart pan, like this one.
Combine the first 5 ingredients in the food processor and pulse to mix. Add the diced butter and pulse a few times through until butter is the size of peas and ingredients start to clump and hold together a bit. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and ice water with a fork. Add it to the dough slowly while pulsing until a dough ball forms. Do not over pulse; stop as soon as it begins to clump and there are nearly no flour bits left. Add more ice water only if needed (dependent upon your elevation and the weather etc…).
Remove dough from bowl and place on lightly floured surface ( using GF flour blend). Roll the dough to about 1/8-inch thickness. Fill the tart mold with the dough and cut off excess.
Pre bake crust for 10-12 minutes or until about half baked. Remove and allow to cool for at least 5-10 at room temperature.
To prepare filling : 1. Potato: Peel and chop potato into 2-4” chunks. In a small saucepan, heat about 1 1/2 - 2 cups water on stove and bring to boil. Add potatoes, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until soft when pierced. Drain and cool at room temp. 2. Asparagus + onions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse asparagus and onions. Cut off just the base end of the asparagus. Place on baking sheet. Add rinsed onions to pan. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle lightly with sea salt. Roast for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. 3. Prepare béchamel, you can find the recipe here, it will make extra so you can use over the next week on everything!
Fill tart: 1. Spread béchamel evenly across tart base 2. Add potatoes 3. Add micro greens 4. Add feta 5. Add asparagus ( whole ) 6. Add onions (if using spring onions, whole is great) 7. Drizzle avocado oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper
Once tart is filled, cover lightly with foil as to prevent further browning of pre roasted veggies. Bake 20 minutes at 375 covered. Then uncover and increase oven temperature to 400 and bake for another 18-22 minutes. Remove and serve warm. Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.