Spinach, red onions and eggs tart

           Whether you needed one more reason to quit eating meat and start trying a vegetarian diet, this tart will definetly catch your attention! It is full of taste and vitamins and it is so easy to make!

          The ideea of making this tart came from back when me and my brother were little kids and my mother used to cook for us a simply delicious spinach cream with wilted onions, some flour, milk and crushed garlic. We used to eat it with one or two fried eggs, secretly hoping that one day we will have Popeye's  muscles :)

         Now that I grew up, I must confess that I dont't really have Popeye's muscles, not even close, but still I enjoy eating spinach and I cook it any time I have the chance to. This time I wanted to cook something special, so I took my mother's classic and gave it a kind of a modern look.

For a tart form wit a 26 cm in diameter, I used the following

ingredients:

for the pastry:

220 grams plain flour

110 grams unsalted butter

two tablespoons of ice-cold water

a pinc of salt

for the filling:

70 grams unsalted butter

one red onion

3 cloves of garlic

half of kilo of fresh spinach

one tablespoon of plain flour

400 ml milk

salt and pepper

two free range eggs

Observations:

- I used only half of kilo of spinach, as that is all I had, but if you want a richer filling, I suggest you to use one kilo of spinach, two tablespoons of flour and 600-700 ml of milk

- as for the pastry, here are some useful tips: make sure both the water and butter are ice-cold, work the pastry as little as possible, and use some plastic foil when you roll it in order to prevent it from sticking. You can read more about how to get the perfect pastry here.

Method:

1. preheat the oven at 180 centigrades.

2. sieve the flour and the salt in a large bowl, add the butter (cut it in small pieces first) and the water and mix it with your fingers until it gets crumbly. Transfer the composition onto a working top and continue working it until it reaches a firm and strong dough consistency. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it in cling film and leave it to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

3. meanwhile, prepare the filling: cut the onions into strips and sweat it in butter on medium heath, together with the crushed garlic.

4. when the onions becomes soft, add the roughly chopped spinach and wilt it for about 2-3 minutes. Add the flour and continue mixing for another 3-4 minutes, then gradually add the milk, continuing stirring, until you get a creamy consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste, and set aside to cool.

5. back to the pastry: take the pastry out of the fridge, leave it for 2 minutes at room temperature and then place it between two sheets of cling film and roll it into a thin circle with 30 cm diameter.

6. remove the cling film and roll the pastry into the tart form, gently pressing it with your fingers against the edges. 

7. prick the pastry with a fork in order to prevent it from rise while baking.

8. cover the pastry with baking paper and add enough red beans or baking beans to cover the bottom of the pastry. 

9. bake the tart at 180 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes.

10. when the tart is baked, take it out of the oven, remove teh beans and the paper and add the spinach filling. Using a spoon, make some space into the filling and add the eggs. Bake for another 20-25 minutes, until the eggs are completely baked.

Serve hot, with freshly gound pepper.

Enjoy!