This creamy cashew tart is topped with flavoursome tidbits. Simple, but a little bit special.
Creamy is a hard feeling or flavour to achieve when dairy is off the menu. There are lots of other great flavours and textures, but creamy is difficult. I think this tart gets there though.
This is a simple but delicious tart that's a little bit special. I think it would be just the thing to cook for a romantic dinner with your vegan or vegetarian other half, or someone who you'd like to upgrade to that status.
Start with a flaky pastry base. This is topped with onions that have been caramelised with maple syrup, and pureed with soaked cashews and dijon mustard to create a silky smooth and creamy layer. Once baked until golden brown this layer lightly sets, and can have lots of good stuff stacked on top.
I went with more caramelised onions, marinated button mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, baby spinach and little dollops of olive and pumpkin seed tapenade. Rocket (arugula) or basil leaves, grilled eggplant or capsicum would also all be perfectly at home here.
Serve alongside a crisp green salad and a matching glass of a crisp white wine and you'll make someone very happy indeed.
This is a very achievable recipe even if you're not much of a cook. Get the mushrooms and tapenade done the day before, and get the cashews soaking. Then on the day all you need to do is get out the blender, cook the pastry, and do a bit of assembly. Barely any harder than making a salad.
Get the recipe

INGREDIENTS
For the cashew cream:
- ½ cup raw cashews soaked overnight (or a minimum of four hours, but longer is better here)
- 1-2 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 onion thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ¼ cup water
For the tart:
- One sheet of pre-rolled flaky pastry thawed (check the label if vegan or vegetarian)
- Cherry tomatoes
- Baby spinach leaves
- Marinated button mushrooms
- Olive and pumpkin seed tapenade
INSTRUCTIONS
For the cashew cream:
- Start by caramelising the onions. Cook the onions over a low to medium heat with 1 tablespoon of coconut oil, stirring occasionally. Once they're getting quite golden, add 1 tablespoon maple syrup and continue cooking for another few minutes. You want deeply, darkly golden (but not burned) onions that are soft and sticky.
- Reserve about a quarter of the onions for serving the tarts, and add the rest to your blender.
- Add cashews, mustard, salt and pepper, and ¼ cup of water to the blender and blend until smooth. You may need to add a little more water to help the mixture blend. Add as little as possible though, you want a thick cream.
- Taste and add more salt, pepper or mustard to your liking.
For the tart:
- Preheat oven to 190C fanbake.
- Cut the pastry sheet in half to make two rectangles. Use a knife to lightly score a border about 1cm from the edge, the whole way around each piece.
- Spread half of the cashew cream thickly on each rectangle of pastry, within the scored border.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and the pastry has risen and flaked beautifully.
- Pile up with reserved caramelised onion, cherry tomatoes, baby spinach, marinated button mushrooms and little dollops of olive and pumpkin seed tapenade.
- Serve with a crisp green salad and a glass of crisp white wine. Heaven.
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