Butternut Squash Tart

Sometimes the best meals come from digging around in the refrigerator to clear things out just before a trip. A few days before leaving on a recent trip to London, I roasted a piece of butternut squash that had been hanging out in my fridge for a while, and combined it with some other flotsam and jetsam on the shelves, including a leftover piece of fontina cheese, half a container of ricotta and a bit of heavy cream. The combination of ingredients turned out to be an inspired match, and I won't be waiting for leftovers to make this again. Start out by cubing the squash and roasting in the oven with olive oil and seasoned salt at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until softened. Note: I used only about half of this in the tart.

Make sure you blind bake (prebake) the crust so you don't end up with a soggy bottom.

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and gently pour into the tart shell, then bake it for almost a half hour.

The results are creamy, cheesy and wickedly good. It's nearly the same as a quiche, but the ricotta brings it some extra oomph. Serve with a salad on the side for a complete meal.

Butternut Squash Tart

printable recipe here

Ingredients

2 cups butternut squash cubes, roasted in the oven at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes, with a drizzle of olive oil, and sprinkling of seasoned salt.

3/4 cup ricotta

2 eggs

3/4 cup heavy cream

1 cup grated fontina (or Swiss, mozzarella or cheddar)

salt, pepper to taste

a small bit of fresh parsley, minced

pastry shell, homemade or store-bought

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Make or buy the pastry and place in a 9" tart pan.

Prick the dough in the pan, and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes

Place a greased sheet of aluminum foil in the tart shell and place pie weights inside (I use a combo of beans and rice that I've had for more than 30 years.)

Bake for 10 minutes, then remove the aluminum foil and pie weights and bake another five minutes.

With a whisk, beat the eggs with the ricotta, cream, seasonings, salt and pepper, parsley and cheese.

Place the tart pan on a cookie sheet (I spray mine first with PAM), and gently pour the filling into the prebaked tart shell.

Bake at 375 degrees F. for 30 minutes.

Raise heat to 400 and bake for another 5 minutes or until top is a little golden.