I’ve quite a lot of Instagram crushes, however today one man positively takes the lead…
That man is Julius Roberts, the previous London-based chef who fled the restaurant rat race to boost pigs, chickens, goats, and sheep on an impossibly picturesque farm within the English countryside close to the Dorset coast. His life is enviable, after all, but it surely’s his model of cooking and recipes that received me within the first place. He’s at all times pulling some veg-forward, rustic trying showstopper from the rusty outdated oven in his out of doors shed, and I’m fairly positive I ahead 99% % of those posts to my husband with the message “we’re making this,” if he hasn’t already executed the identical to me.
This previous spring, as an example, Roberts demo’d a phenomenal asparagus tart with ricotta and spring herbs (it’s additionally in his glorious guide, The Farm Desk). Then, in the summertime, he made principally the identical factor, however with zucchini and basil. So, final week, I got here up with what I do know could be a Julius-Roberts-approved fall interpretation: Honeynut Squash with Herby Ricotta. And I used to be reminded that but once more that the perfect cookbook authors don’t simply train particular recipes — they train approach and confidence.
Right here’s the recipe, however as Roberts would say, “frankly, you may make it together with your eyes closed.”
Squash Tart with Herby Ricotta
I served it with a gem lettuce salad tossed with toasted buckwheat, scallions, a sprinkling of dietary yeast (as an alternative of Parm, which felt like cheese overload with the tart), and a primary French dressing, however my go-to Inexperienced Salad could be simply positive, too.
Herby Ricotta
1 cup ricotta
3 ounces feta, crumbled (plus extra for garnish)
1/3 cup dill (plus extra for garnish)
1/3 cup chives or parsley (plus extra for garnish)
zest from 1/2 lemon
kosher salt and freshly floor black pepper, to style
For Tart
1 sheet puff pastry (comparable to Dufour Model), absolutely thawed
Herby Ricotta (above)
12-14 ounces butternut or honeynut squash, sliced skinny on a mandoline
1 tablespoon olive oil
kosher salt and freshly floor black pepper
crimson pepper flakes
1 egg, whisked
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Make the herby ricotta: Add the ricotta, feta, herbs, lemon zest, salt, and pepper to a meals processor and whirl till creamy and blended. (If you happen to don’t need to escape a serious piece of equipment, simply finely chop the herbs and vigorously whisk all the things collectively in a mixing bowl.)
Roll out puff pastry on a floured floor, then switch to a parchment-paper lined baking sheet. Utilizing a knife, sketch a rectangle in the course of the dough, leaving a 1-inch perimeter round it. (It will assist make your puff pastry rise appealingly on the sides.) Utilizing a rubber spatula, evenly unfold the ricotta cream contained in the rectangle, then prime with squash slices, a little bit overlap is okay.
Brush the perimeter of the dough with the egg wash. Bake for 20-25 minutes till dough is puffy and golden and the squash is cooked by way of. Sprinkle with a little bit extra crumbled feta, some crimson pepper flakes, and extra chopped recent herbs, which I forgot to do for the photograph.
P.S. Twenty-minute coconut rooster soup and eight issues to do with almost-rotten produce.
