20 August 2014

A Zucchini and Sausage Tart

Preface: This is a post I put together last week, before I injured my finger and got the splint...

Here's another idea for zucchini season: une tarte aux courgettes avec saucisson et oignons. All the ingredients go in pre-cooked (or at least blanched) so it doesn't have to stay in the oven very long. You can make it ahead of time and then put it in the oven half an hour or less before you're ready to serve it.


The first step is to sauté some onions slowly in a frying pan on top of the stove. They need to cook for 30 to 45 minutes at low temperature. To help them along, add half a cup of white wine or water after the onions have browned slightly. I also added a tablespoonful of honey and a couple of bay leaves to the pan for flavor.


The second step is to blind-bake the pie shell. Put the pan with the pastry in it into a medium oven for 20 minutes or so, or until the pastry is lightly browned.


While all that is going on, slice a zucchini squash thinly and blanch the slices in boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes to soften them. Scoop them out of the boiling water into a big bowl of cold water to stop the cooking, and then transfer to a colander to drain.



Finally, cut a pre-cooked sausage into thin slices. Here in France, I bought a saucisson à l'ail or garlic sausage that is sold cuit, or completely cooked. It is made by a company in Fleury-les-Aubrais, just outside the city of Orléans. The label says the sausage is 97% pork, with the garlic for flavor and some egg white as a binding agent. It's very firm and it's easy to slice thinly with a sharp knife.


Now everything is cooked, at least partially. To put the tart together, spread the cooked onions on the bottom of the tart shell. Arrange the sausage slices on top of the onion, and the zucchini slices on top of the sausage. One other ingredient is some grated cheese on top — parmesan or comté or cheddar — whatever you like. Bake the tart for about 20 minutes or until it is hot all the way through and the cheese on top has melted and browned.

14 comments:

  1. Thanks Ken....
    another courgette down...
    only Sunday's, Mondays's, yesterday's and what we find today to deal with!!
    Looks loverly me ducks!!

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    1. Hope you enjoy it, T&P. I want to make it again using a smoked saucisson à l'ail, or a Morteau sausage.

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  2. Sounds, more or less, like a pepperoni pizza! Frank would have loved it, I'm sure.

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    1. I thought about Frank too, when I was slicing that saucisson that looks a little like pepperoni. Also a week or two ago when we had a chorizo pizza from the supermarket.

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  3. Great recipe. I hope our finger is better.

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    1. The hurt finger does feel better today. I've re-adjusted the splint and it feels better today. Thanks for your comments and kind th0oughts.

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  4. Replies
    1. It was a good use of a big zuke, for sure. You could do the same kind of thing with sliced cooked chicken breast, I think. I have to try that, since we're still getting zucchini every day.

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  5. It looks delicious.
    I was surprised to see no eggy mixture poured over the filling before baking, which would, I suppose, have made it into a quiche rather than a tart. I shall certainly try this with courgettes (we have a secret supply........!)
    I have made something similar using thinly sliced leeks and morteau sausage. That was nice.

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    1. The saucisson I used was vety good -- lean and with a good garlic flavor -- but I do want to try the recipe with a smoked sausage like morteau. BTW, I just had some blackberry-apple crumble with custard sauce, and it was delicious. Nice pud'.

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  6. Oh that looks nice! I'm in there if it has a cheesy topping. We had some portuguese black pudding a couple of days ago, with big chunks of ham in it. That would be good.

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    1. P., that boudin noir version does sound good.

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  7. Looks delicious!

    Hope your finger won't hurt too much, Ken. No problems cooking?

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  8. how could i have missed this? looks amazing.
    :-)

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