Spring Vegetable Tart

Ingredients

• 1 (9-inch) disc all-butter pie dough
• 4 large Eggs
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups 2% milk
• 1 1/4 cups freshly grated Romano cheese, divided
• 1/4 cup diced purple onion
• 8-10 small asparagus spears, trimmed
• 1/4 cup (1/4 of a large) sweet yellow bell pepper, cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch thick strips
• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

Also required

• 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom (or 9-inch pie plate)
• parchment paper
• 2 cups pie weights or dried (uncooked) beans
• aluminum foil

Instructions

Line a tart pan with removable bottom with parchment paper that has been custom cut to fit the bottom of the pan. (If using a pie plate, omit the parchment paper.)

Roll the pie dough to fill the tart pan with a slight overhang of dough. Gently lift the edges of the dough while also nestling it to fill the bottom and sides of the tart pan without underlying air pockets. Crimp the outer edge of the dough, as desired. Freeze the pastry lined tart pan for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425º F.

While the tart pastry is in the freezer, prepare the filling by beating the eggs together with the flour, salt, and pepper until blended and no longer lumpy. Whisk the milk into the egg mixture until combined. Stir in 1 cup of the Romano cheese and the diced onions into the filling; set aside.

Line the frozen tart part with a double thickness of aluminum foil with a 1-inch overhang. Scatter the dried beans or pie weights over the foil. Bake the tart shell for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the pie weights by gripping the foil overhang and lifting upward. Briefly dock the crust a few times with a fork. Return the tart pan to the oven and continue baking for an additional 5 minutes or until just barely beginning to brown.

Remove the tart shell from the oven. Reduce the oven temperature to 325º F.

Stir the filling mixture again. Pour filling into the hot tart pastry. Arrange the asparagus, sweet bell pepper, and tomatoes over top.

Bake the tart at 325 degrees F for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the center is just set. Allow the tart to rest on a cooling rack for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve Spring Vegetable Tart warm with a sprinkle of the remaining Romano cheese.

Recipe Notes: Once lined with pie dough, the tart pan may be frozen for up to 3 days prior to baking. When freezing the pastry lined tart pan a few days ahead of baking, loosely cover it with aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn. On baking day, after removing the foil and beans from the par-baked tart shell, place them on the counter to cool. Once cooled, the dried beans may be stored in an airtight container and reused as pie weights numerous times. Beans that have been used as pie weights are no longer tasty, and should not be cooked and eaten.