Zucchini and Honeynut Squash Tart

The good thing about having a CSA (community supported agriculture) from one of the local farms is that I have a variety of vegetables at my disposal that are just waiting to be eaten. The bad thing is that I have to figure out new ways to cook some of these because there are only so many loaves of banana bread I can make and pawn off to neighbors. I was playing around on Pinterest when I saw a video that used butternut squash and zucchini to make a beautiful flower tart. So I used what I had in my fridge, added some eggs, and made this Zucchini and Honeynut Squash Tart.

Zucchini and Honeynut Squash Tart

Invest in a Tart Pan. I held off for so long because I just didn’t want to have another random pan around my kitchen taking up space. But I use it often. I love it. I love that I can place it on a coffee can and the sides just fall to the bottom allowing me to slide my tarts onto a cutting board and everyone gets pretty edges.

Honeynut Squash is similar in texture and looks to butternut squash. The ones that have ended up in my CSA have been small cellphone sized vegetables that are perfect for single meals. They are a little sweeter than butternut squash but quite tasty. IF you cannot find this, just use a butternut squash. It’ll work the same. Either Yellow Squash or Zucchini will work.

I used a Mandoline Slicer to slice through the Zucchini and Squash. Be VERY VERY careful using this. It is sharp and WILL cut you if you’re not careful. Once my hands start getting close to the blade, I make sure to use the grip. Be careful.

Blue Cheese, this was probably the only thing in this recipe that didn’t come from my CSA. I get cheese in my CSA but not blue cheese.(HINT HINT GABE!). The blue cheese packs a punch of flavor that is mellowed out by everything else going on. The Honey will brighten it. If you get a good block of blue cheese and some honey cone, you will have a great night!

Cooking Notes

I’ve talked about blind baking the tart shell and pie crust before. All you need to do to blind bake it is cover the tart shell/pie crust in tin foil or parchment paper and pour in pie weights, rice, or dried beans on to of it and bake for 20 or so minutes. Blind baking prevents soggy bottoms. Soggy bottoms are raw dough that is floppy and does not hold itself together.

Sauting the shallots allow for the flavors to develop and cook off that raw onion taste. Put these on low to medium heat. Add a little water if they start to burn or get dry.

So the recipe I saw did not use eggs. Since I was making this for dinner I felt like we needed a little more of a protein kick. BEST idea. The eggs hold the filling together and give the blue cheese something to melt into. 3-4 eggs are idea.

Substitution. This tart can handle so many substitutions. There are so many different types of squash (summer and winter) that can be sliced thin and layered. Slice the squash thinly and layer to make it pretty.

Finally, I always bake tarts and pies on a cookie sheet. I do this for two reasons. In the unlikely event that something overflows, the cookie sheet catches it. But more important, it allows for easy removal from the oven. I just have to pull the cookie try out and allow it to cool a few minutes before I try to remove it from the pan. This allows it to have that final set up time while it cools enough to touch.

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