While I was in the mood for cooking something mighty today, I’d not the luxury of time. So, I settled on this quick savoury tart using ready-made puff pastry, a good slathering of a bitey orange marmalade, mildly bitey, soft goats’ cheese, tempered by sweet, prosciutto crudo and some punchy rosemary. Probably the tart is more of a starter than a main course, but boosted with a green salad, it stepped up to the lunchtime job.
The tart was simple, on the table in a flash, and it was delicious. The star ingredient was the Sicilian orange jam. It is simply the best (yeah, better than all the rest …). Made by our friend Angela, it is bittersweet, dynamic and daring. The taste is tangy, robust, fearsome even. Ditto the colour.
This morning we were met with a dreary, old winter sky and it’s on days like this, that I find myself scrambling for Angela’s jam. My kid would say that I am exaggerating, but it’s almost as if the very orangeness of the marmalade, stands in defiance of winters’ muted palette. It’s as if, opening the jar, slathering it out, devouring it etc, are small, cheeky acts of seasonal rebellion. And rebellion, I am generally on for. I can put up with the ‘esagerato’ comments of a 15 year-old in the name of quiet, culinary unruliness.
The making of this tart is super simple. It’s pretty much just bake the almost nude (save the egg wash) puff pastry, add almost all the toppings (save the prosciutto), give it a quick blast under the grill, whip it out, add the prosciutto and you’re done.
Below are the quantities I use but they are just guides. Let the measurements of your pastry and how hefty you prefer your toppings take the lead. In Italy, ready-made puff pastry is generally not frozen, but it can be found in fridge section of supermarkets. It has a shorter shelf-life yes, but on the upside, it requires no planning/defrosting and is ready to roll (boom boom!). The standard size pastry weighs 230g, but rather than calculating grams, it is probably more useful if you are using frozen pastry just to think of your numbers, your appetite, and work from there. Easy.
As an update, the day cleared up after lunch and we had gorgeous sunshine. The colours at sunset, were positively golden – the power of the orange marmalade ?!?!?!?!
Orange Marmalade, Goats Cheese and Prosciutto Tart ~ Torta Salata con Prosciutto, Formaggio di Capra e Marmellata
(… also Rosemary but the name is getting to long)
Ingredients
- 1 roll of puff pastry (230g)
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1/3 cup of top quality orange marmalade
- 100g soft goats cheese
- 1 heaped tsp chopped rosemary
- 80g prosciutto crudo, torn into large pieces
Preheat the oven to 180 C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Roll out the pastry and place on the lined baking tray. Brush the top with the beaten egg and prick all over with a fork. Bake for 10minutes.
Remove from the oven and lay a second tray on top of the pastry, and return to the oven for 10minutes (this will keep the puffing under wraps). Remove the pastry and allow to cool slightly.
Preheat the grill to medium high. If you don’t have a grill setting on your oven, just leave the original oven setting and move the tray to the top shelf.
Spread jam over the pastry, dot small blobs of cheese here and there, and sprinkle with the chopped rosemary. Place under the grill for 2-3 minutes until the cheese is slightly golden.
Remove from the oven and scatter over the torn slices of prosciutto.
Serve with a green salad.
