In collaboration with Brixton Windmill and using their organic wholemeal flour
A simple and super easy ham and pea savoury tart. It’s an amazing flavour combination. Ham, peas and cream is one of my most favourite pasta sauces ever. And it works amazingly well as a tart or quiche filling too.
I came up with the idea for this tart for the baking classes I’m setting up in collaboration with Brixton Windmill. For this reason, but also given the fact that it carries a deeper rustic flavour, the tart case is rigorously made of whole wheat flour.
The ham, peas and cream combination works well on its own, but I wanted to give it a boost to balance the rich buttery flavour of the pastry and bring in some freshness and tanginess. Therefore, I swapped half of the cream with creme fraiche to give it some acidity. The addition of strong mustard makes it more interesting, and lemon zest and fresh mint bring the flavour profile to the next level, balancing it and making this tart surprisingly light to eat.
It’s a simple recipe that involves very short prep times and just a bit longer cooking, so you can whip this up any moment of the day, or make the pastry and then bake the tart the next day. Or bake the case and then fill it the day after. Whatever you decide to go for, rest assured it’ll be a hit.
Wanna go all-in on savoury tarts? Check out this Rustic Galette recipe or my smoky mushroom and chard tart for a proper party or pic-nic showstopper.
Makes one 15cm tart
Ingredients
FOR THE TART
- 250g whole wheat flour (I used Brixton Windmill’s)
- 25g corn flour
- 150g butter, cubed
- 4 Tbsp ice cold water
- 1 pinch fine salt
FOR THE FILLING
- 120g honey roast ham chunks, diced
- 200g frozen peas
- 20g strong dijon or english mustard
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 60g double cream
- 60g creme fraiche
- 1 spring of mint leaves, finely chopped
- zest of 1 lemon
- sea salt and black pepper to season
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT
- 15cm wide fluted flan tin
- dry beans/chickpeas or ceramic baking beans
Method
TO MAKE THE SHORTCRUST PASTRY
- Combine the flour, corn flour and salt in a bowl. Drop in the cold butter cubes and rub the butter into the flour (alternatively you can use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment) until you get to a sandy and crumbly consistency)
- Add the icy water and mix the dough with a wooden spoon (or in the stand mixer on low). As soon as you see the pastry coming together, stop mixing, flatten, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least two hours, or until ready to use
TO MAKE THE TART
- While the pastry chills, put a small pot of water over the hob and bring to the boil. Salt the water and pour in the frozen peas. Boil for 2 minutes, drain and leave to cool in the colander
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Take the pastry out of the fridge and leave it at room temperature for 10 minutes. Roll out the pastry to a 4mm thickness between two sheets of baking parchment
- To line the tart tin, roll the pastry up on the rolling pin and unroll it over it. Lift the edges and encourage the pastry to reach the bottom of the tin. Using a piece of extra pastry, press the rolled pastry into the tart tin, to get all the angles and corners neatly lined. Roll the rolling pin over the tin to cut the extra overhanging pastry. Adjust the thickness of the sides again and trim the last extra edge with a sharp knife
- Refrigerate the tart base for 10 minutes. Take the tart case out of the fridge, line the interior with a disc of baking parchment and cover with baking beans. Blind bake the tart case for 20 minutes. Take out from the oven, remove the beans and parchment, prick the bottom with a fork and bake for further 5 minutes
- While the tart case blind bakes, prepare the filling. In a medium size bowl, combine the creams, mustard, lemon zest and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the beaten egg, peas, ham and chopped mint leaves and mix to combine. Set aside
- Once the tart case has finished blind baking, remove it from the oven and lower the temperature to 160 C. Pour all the filling into the case (it should fit perfectly and come up just under the rim), return to the oven and bake for 45 minutes
- Prick the middle of the tart with a skewer, if it comes out clean the tart is ready. If still a bit raw in the middle, give it another 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for at least one hour before unmoulding. Slice, serve accompanied by a nice salad and enjoy