SPRING TART

The last few days in Brisbane have been rainy, cold and dreary. So I decided to make a hearty, yet low fat, yet spring themed tart to make the insides of my apartment seem sunny while the outside world seems anything but. I call this a tart as 'pie' seems too wintery a word to use. As I ventured deeper into the recipe, I found that I changed more quantities and ingredients than usual. I soon became worried that it would not turn out at all and my unit would take on the bleak characteristics of the weather outside. How spoilt us Queenslanders are! We have a few days of not so perfect weather and we (I) feel sad. I could never live in London, I know that for certain. To end, the pie was delicious and warmed up my entire kitchen. Its comforting to know that you can create spring inside your own home!

Note- this recipe was adapted from Weight Watchers 'Cook Basics'.

Ingredients 

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 small brown onion, chopped finely 
• 100g reduced fat ham 
• 100g reduced fat feta cheese, crumbled
• 250g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 6 eggs, lightly beaten 
• 1-1/2 sheets of reduced fat puff pastry, thawed
• 1 bunch english spinach, washed and cooked with 2 crushed garlic cloves (instructions below). 

Cooking 

1. Preheat oven to 180 or 160 degrees celsius for fan forced. Lightly spray a round tin with oil. Place on a baking tray. 

2. Heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add onion. Cook, stirring for a few minutes or until softened. Add ham and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes or until lightly browned. Add spinach and 1-2 garlic cloves, crushed. Cook, stirring until all spinach has wilted. Cool for around 10 minutes. 

3.  Depending on the size of your tin, you may use between 1- 1/2 sheets of puff pastry. Make sure that the whole tin is lined with pastry, including the edges. As my tin is around 30 cm in circumference, I had to play around and cut pieces of pastry into diamonds and squares so that I created an edge for the pie. . 

4. Spoon the spinach, ham and onion mixture into the pastry and top with tomatoes, cut-size down and feta. Pour the lightly beaten eggs over the filling. Fold any overhanging pastry back to form a rim, as this will form a nice, crisp crust. Bake tart for around 35-40 minutes or until golden and set. Cool in pan for five minutes. Cut into wedges to serve. 

x E