Feeding guests for Sunday brunch or lunch? There is nothing more special, or easily prepared ahead, than a delicious tart. One of our favourite go-to brunch dishes is the Pumpkin Fetta Cheese Onion & Thyme Tart. This recipe uses Olympus Fetta, sweet roast pumpkin, caramelised onion and thyme. You can also sneak bacon into this recipe, but we love the vegetarian option. The heartiness of the fetta and sweetness of the pumpkin means it is really satisfying without the meat. We love the flavours of thyme (or rosemary). They really compliment the sweet pumpkin and salty fetta. This dish is a nice idea to surprise a special mum for mother’s day brunch. You can bake it in your preferred crust, or you can add a handful of grated cheddar cheese to the mixture and make a crustless version. The sour cream pastry from Maggie Beer is a delicious shortcrust pastry you might like to try, but it also works well with a puff pastry.
Pumpkin Fetta Cheese Onion and Thyme Tart
Ingredients
- 150 grams Olympus Fetta Cheese
- 150 grams pumpkin
- 6 eggs
- 1 Tb olive oil
- 1 red or brown onion, halved and sliced
- 1 tsp fresh thyme
- 1 cup milk or cream
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 savoury tart shell blind baked prior if necessary as per your chosen recipe and set aside to cool slightly
Instructions
- Set oven to 180 degrees Celsius
- Meanwhile, chop pumpkin pieces into 3 cm cubes, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt.
- Roast for approximately 20 minutes in oven until soft and browned. Leave oven on and remove pumpkin allowing to cool.
- While roasting, saute onion slices in a frying pan on a medium heat until they are browned and tender. Once very soft, add some balsamic to your pan to bring back all the flavours into your onion. once ready, set aside.
- Chop fetta into 3 cm cubes.
- Whisk together eggs, milk, salt, pepper and thyme in a large bowl. (If making a crustless tart you may also like to add in ½-1 cup of grated cheese).
- In your tart shell or greased flan dish, arrange pieces of pumpkin, onion and fetta evenly.
- Pour in egg mixture.
- Bake for approximately 35-40 minutes or until cooked through and golden on top.
- When ready, leave to sit for 5 minutes before serving.
- Tip: If going crustless, use a lower shelf in the oven to ensure the quiche doesn’t brown too much on top.