Play Dates Go Gourmet

A rustic puff pastry tart with butternut squash, shallots and triple cream cheese

As a new mom (my son, Rory, is eight months old), I've endured my fair share of cold cups of coffee and scavenged lunches (yesterday it was a bit of leftover pea puree and half a piece of toast). So when I get together with a couple of my mom friends for a play date, I like to make sure we eat well – they (and I) deserve it. Plus, these ladies are former colleagues from the magazine I used to work on, Inspired, so they know their food.

It was my turn to host last week and inspiration came by way of Nigel Slater's book Appetite, which is really a non-recipe book. He offers up base recipes with lots of adaptations to make them your own. I liked the look of an onion tart that used store-bought puff pastry as the base (this is a cooking shortcut I'm totally okay with), and I improvised with the toppings, using roasted butternut squash and shallots and a triple cream cheese called Brillat Savarin by Didier Lincet that we'd picked up at our local cheese shop in Kensington Market. This tart is a really flexible food idea that can take on any seasonal ingredients: I didn't want to waste the second block of puff pastry, so for dinner that night, I sautéed mushrooms, garlic and red onions with some thyme and rosemary, which was also great. When it comes to cheeses, you can use any cheese that takes your fancy – goat's cheese, fresh mozzarella, brie or even grated or sliced cheddar. Here's the general recipe:

Butternut Squash, Shallot & Cheese Tart
Peel, remove pulp and seeds and thinly slice one butternut squash and roast on a baking sheet in a 350ºF oven (I lightly coated mine with some olive oil and seasoned with a pinch each of salt, pepper and paprika) for about 20-30 min., until lightly caramelized. At the same time, roast two large sliced shallots (also lightly coated in oil and seasoned). If your squash is sliced thinly enough, they should be ready around the same time, but keep an eye on the shallots as they cook fairly quickly. This step can be done ahead (I got the veg all ready the day before).

Lightly flour your kitchen counter (or other rolling surface) and roll thawed puff pastry into a square or rectangle until it's quite thin (Slater says no thicker than a 10-pence coin, which is similar in thickness to five cents). Transfer your rolled pastry to a parchment paper lined baking sheet and use a fork to lightly prick the pastry, leaving a small border around the edge that will puff up and hold the fillings in. Layer squash and shallots on to the pastry, dot with chunks of cheese and sprinkle with fresh thyme and freshly ground pepper and brush the border with melted butter. Bake at 400ºF for about 15-20 min. until the pastry is golden and puffed and the cheese is melted and browning. 

Serving Tip: If you're not going to serve the tart right away, transfer to a cooling rack so it will keep its crispness. I left mine on the baking sheet for about half an hour while we fed, corralled and generally juggled babies, and the bottom was slightly soggy.