This Loaded Vegetable Tart Has the Crispiest Potato Crust

In Northern Vermont, the place I reside, the previous few days the solar has come out, the temperatures have teased a critical warmup, and the snow is lastly melting. Which means spring is correct across the nook, which feels virtually life-saving following a protracted, chilly winter right here in New England. The flavors of spring occur to be a few of my favorites, and this smashed potato tart captures the brilliant, contemporary produce of the season with melt-in-your mouth tender leeks and asparagus, complemented by nutty fontina and tangy goat cheese. The shock factor on this quiche-like tart is the golden brown smashed potato crust, which takes the place of pastry dough—it’s tender on the within and delightfully crispy on the underside. 

Constructing the Crisp Potato Crust

The problem with making this tart was getting the potato crust excellent. I examined a handful of various potatoes, pans, and even cooking strategies, however the most effective outcomes have been borrowed from certainly one of my favourite recipes, this top-rated Severe Eats recipe for crispy roast potatoes. No, the crust on this tart is nowhere close to as crispy because the spuds in Kenji’s recipe, however I borrowed the concept of par-cooking the potatoes in water with salt and baking soda earlier than smashing them for the crust. The alkaline water breaks down the floor of the potatoes, making a starch slurry, which helps the potatoes brown for a darker, crispier crust.

As soon as the potatoes are simply tender, they’re added to a really effectively greased tart pan and smashed into an excellent layer. (Whereas it is useful to have a tart pan with a detachable backside, you can too make the tart in a pie pan, if that is all you will have.) After the potatoes are smashed and fashioned right into a crust, you will add extra oil, which additional promotes browning and crisping.

One other approach I make use of on this recipe to make sure the crispiest potato crust doable is to par-bake the empty crust on the underside rack within the oven. Oven rack place when baking is commonly missed, however is a crucial participant in figuring out how a lot meals browns. With the underside of the crust as near the underside of the recent oven as doable, the underside of the crust will brown extra rapidly. After about 40 minutes, the potato crust turns a deep golden brown and develops a nice crunch.

The Filling

The filling for this tart has the most effective qualities of a quiche filling—it’s creamy, wealthy, and tremendous flavorful—with out being stodgy. The egg custard is wealthy and silky with out overshadowing the contemporary spring greens it’s paired with. I begin by sautéing leeks and asparagus with only a trace of garlic and thyme, so the flavors of the greens are nonetheless the celebrities.

Earlier than including the cooked greens into the tart, I layer shredded fontina over the par-cooked potato crust. I really like fontina’s nutty taste, and because it melts whereas baking, it’s going to kind a barrier over the underside crust, stopping any moisture from the greens or egg combination from seeping into it, conserving the crust as crisp as doable. After the greens are unfold excessive, tangy crumbled goat cheese and plenty of contemporary herbs are sprinkled on. Then the entire thing is topped with simply sufficient egg custard to bind the components right into a cohesive, sliceable tart. 

The tart is baked as soon as extra, with the oven temperature lowered barely, till the custard simply units (it ought to nonetheless jiggle barely within the heart). The completed tart must relaxation at room temperature for ten minutes earlier than you’ll be able to slice into it, so the egg filling can additional solidify and end cooking.

Serving Solutions

This tart is greatest served proper after its transient relaxation time, when the potato crust is most crisp. Because the tart cools, the crust will inevitably lose a few of its crunchy attraction, however it’s going to nonetheless be scrumptious. For simpler slicing and a powerful presentation, I like to recommend operating a pointy paring knife alongside the perimeters of the pan earlier than eradicating it to make sure the potato crust doesn’t stick. Slide off the perimeters of the tart pan and you might be able to slice then serve. 

Garnish with extra contemporary herbs and a dollop of bitter cream or crème fraîche and you’ve got an ideal springtime primary dish for brunch or lunch.

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