Savory Tart Tatin with Apples, Shallots and Blue Cheese

I know that a lot of people rely on the internet for finding new recipes, which is fine, but I love cookbooks, so I'm always on the lookout for one that will have a number of new-to-me recipes that sound delicious.

A few days ago I was in one of our independent bookstores and found a great cookbook on the sale table. It's The Great British Baking Show Favorite Flavors book and I'm sure that I'll be making and posting more of the recipes in the future. As I paged through the book, there were at least a half dozen that sparked my interest. Last night I made the recipe that sealed the deal for me actually purchasing the book.

As written, this recipe is a Tart Tatin, which is sort of an upside down pie, with a rough puff pastry top that becomes the bottom of the tart. It is savory, but there is some sweetness from the apples and the shallots. The blue cheese brings home the savory as does the garlic. the thyme adds a wonderful herbal note. If I make it again I'll add finely chopped toasted walnuts, because the finished tart would have been even better with some walnuts, in my opinion. I'll also cut back some on the butter and oil because I found it overly oily. Just in case you think that it isn't worth making, I should tell you that Sweetie thinks it might be the best thing I've ever baked. Of course I had him at 'blue cheese'!

Because the puff pastry I thought I had in the freezer ended up not being there, and because I didn't have the time to make rough puff and I did have pie dough on hand, I used regular pie dough for the tart and it worked fine. I also didn't use all the blue cheese, nor all the apples and I also used fewer shallots than called for. What this meant was that I had a single layer tart. The original was probably thicker and that's why more fat, cheese, apples and shallots were needed. I liked it as a single layer tart, especially with the pie dough crust. I also skipped the balsamic drizzle, but kept the parsley.  I'm going to give you the original recipe below, but feel free to use pie dough and/or half the fillings if you like. Also feel free to toast a couple tablespoons of walnuts and chop them up and sprinkle them over the tart when you have turned it out onto the serving plate. Not only are walnuts and blue cheese a classic match-up, but the crunch should be great with the soft cheese, fruit and shallots. I plan to that next time.

Savory Tart Tatin with Apples, Shallots and Blue Cheese
Serves 4-6

For the rough puff pastry 
200g plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
175g unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
4 tbsp chilled water
1 tsp white wine vinegar or lemon juice

For the topping/filling
40g unsalted butter
2 tbsp olive oil
400g banana shallots (1bout 12 small shallots), peeled and halved lengthways, root end intact
2 Braeburn apples, cored and cut into eighths
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 tbsp golden caster sugar (I used turbinado sugar)
1 thyme sprig, leaves picked, about a teaspoon
150g blue cheese (such as Stilton) crumbled
salt and black pepper to taste

To serve
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley

1.) Make the rough puff pastry. Mix the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Lightly rub in the butter with your fingertips, just enough to knock the corners off the butter pieces - it should still be in a rough dice. Pour in the chilled water and vinegar and quickly mix with a palette knife (small offset spatula works) to bring the dough together in a ragged ball, adding more water if needed.

2.) Lightly flour the work surface, tip the dough out of the bowl and flatten it into a square. Roll out the dough to a rectangle that is three times as long as it is wide - about 36cm x 12 cm, with one of the short ends closest to you. Fold the top third down to the middle and the bottom third up to cover it, to create a three-layered square of dough. Wrap the dough and chill it for 1 hour.

3.) Lightly flour the work surface and roll out the dough to a rectangle, this time about 45 x 15 cm, with one of the short ends closest to you. Fold the top edge down to the middle and the bottom edge up to meet it in the middle. Turn the dough 90 degrees clockwise and fold the dough in half, much like closing a book. Wrap and chill for another 1 hour, or until you're ready to bake.

4.) Make the tipping. While the pastry is chilling, melt 15g of the butter with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large flying pan over medium heat. Add the shallots, cut side down, and cook without stirring for 3-4 minutes, until golden. Turn the shallots over and cook the other side for 2 minutes, until lightly colored. Using a fish knife or palette knife, remove the shallots to a large plate and season well with salt and pepper.

5.) Heat another 15g of butter and the remaining olive oil in the frying pan. Add the apples and cook each side for 2 minutes, until lightly caramelized. Add the garlic, season with salt and pepper and cook for another 1 minutes. Remove the apples to a plate.

6.) Assemble the tatin. Spread the remaining butter over the base of the ovenproof pan or skillet and scatter with the caster sugar. Place the shallots and apples in the pan (they don't have to be neatly arranged) and scatter with the thyme and half the blue cheese.

7.) Lightly flour the work surface. Roll out the pastry and cut it into a 28-30 cm disc (about 3mm thick). Lay the pastry over the shallots and apples and tuck the edges down the inside of the pan. Chill for 20 minutes while you heat the oven to 200 degrees C/180 degreed C fan/Gas 6.

8.) Cut a steam hole in the top of the pastry and place the pan over medium heat on the stove for 2 minutes, until the edges of the pastry start to sizzle and bubble. Then, transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 30 minutes, until the pastry is crisp and golden all over.

9.) Meanwhile, bring the balsamic vinegar to the boil in a small saucepan over medium heat until reduced by half. Removed from the heat and leave to cool.

10.) Leave the baked tart to rest in the ovenproof pan or skillet for 2 minutes, then place a board or serving plate on top of the pan and carefully flip the pan over to turn out the tart. Drizzle with the reduced balsamic vinegar and scatter with the remaining blue cheese and the parsley, to serve.