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Butternut Squash Tart

  • March 5, 2023

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.

Check out Ciao Chow Linda on Instagram here to find out what’s cooking in my kitchen each day (and more).

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Butternut Squash Tart
 
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.
  • ¾ cup ricotta
  • 2 eggs
  • ¾ 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
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
  2. Make or buy the pastry and place in a 9" tart pan.
  3. Prick the dough in the pan, and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes
  4. 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.)
  5. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove the aluminum foil and pie weights and bake another five minutes.
  6. With a whisk, beat the eggs with the ricotta, cream, seasonings, salt and pepper, parsley and cheese.
  7. Place the tart pan on a cookie sheet (I spray mine first with PAM), and gently pour the filling into the prebaked tart shell.
  8. Bake at 375 degrees F. for 30 minutes.
  9. Raise heat to 400 and bake for another 5 minutes or until top is a little golden.
 

Spinach Ricotta Pie

  • April 18, 2017

 I wish I had thought to post this before Easter, because it would have made the perfect meal to serve on Fridays during Lent. But it still is a good one to keep in your back pocket for those nights when you want a meatless meal.

I made this using a store bought pie crust, making it easy to get on the table in a snap, but use your favorite homemade crust recipe if you have time.
The recipe comes from “Blue Plate Special,” a memoir by Kate Christensen, read by my book group nearly a year ago. It’s a passionately written account of her unorthodox childhood and relationships as she navigates her way through adulthood. Through the sometimes painful, sometimes joyous, and frequently tumultuous events, food is the sustaining thread throughout. It’s well worth a read.
And if you have a food, travel or family story you’ve been wanting to write down for posterity, now is the time to start. We’ve got only a couple of spots left for our memoir writing retreat on Lake Como, Italy. Join us for an unforgettable week in this enchanting location in late September. Get more information by going to www.italyinotherwords.com

 

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Spinach Ricotta Pie
from Kate Christensen’s “Blue Plate Special”
1 onion minced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 10-ounce frozen box of spinach, thawed
a dash of cayenne pepper, basil,
salt and pepper
1 pound ricotta cheese
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
4 eggs
Sauté the onion in the olive oil.  Add the spinach, the herbs and spices. Beat the eggs, then blend in the ricotta cheese and the cheddar cheese, plus the sauteed onion and spices. Stir. Turn everything into a store bought or homemade pie shell. Bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes until golden brown on top.