Recipes from Le Tasting Room’s kitchen – caramelized endive & Maroilles tart

I was introduced to Maroilles cheese by my first French au pair Marie 22 years ago. She came from Tourcoing near Lille and Maroilles is a cheese from the North of France in the Pas de Calais and Picardy regions.

There’s not really a subsitute for Maroilles in terms of flavour but you could use Reblochon or even Camembert, both of which would be yummy but not have quite the depth of flavour.

Her recipe was simpler than this one but equally delicious. She just made her own pastry base that she precooked, put thick slices of Maroilles cheese over the base, covered with a layer of creme fraiche and then baked it in the oven until bubbling and brown. Served with a simply dressed green salad it’s a delicious lunch and very much a memory of her and France at that time.

This recipe is a little bit more sophisicated. Based upon a Roux brothers recipe it has a base of caramelized endive which gives a lovely contrast to the smooth, melted smelly cheese.

For one tart using a tin that is 25cm diameter you will need:

Pastry

I used a new recipe for my pastry which was very successful so I’d recommend you give it a try. It comes from Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat and gives a very buttery crisp edge which is delicious. The quantity gave me enough for the savoury tart and a small sweet tart too as the recipe can be used for either.

235g plain flour

25g sugar

A quarter of a teaspoon of baking powder

1 tsp flaky salt

115g unsalted butter cut into 1cm cubes

85ml of crème fraiche or double cream chilled

2 or so tablespoons of iced water

Method:

Weigh out the dry ingredients and mix briefly in a stand mixer. Put the bowl (including the paddle) into the freezer along with the butter cubes and leave it all there for 20 minutes.

Remove from the freezer, turn the speed to low and gently add the butter cubes. Turn the speed up a little and mix for a couple of minutes until the cubes of butter are nearly integrated but you can still see visible little knobs of butter in the mix.

Add the creme fraiche or cream and mix again very briedly until the dough starts to come together. At this point you might need to add a tablespoon or two of the iced water. Don’t over mix, it should still be in clumps. Turn off the mixer and emtpy the contents out onto a big piece of cling film.

Using the clingfilm not your fingers, bring the mix together and form it into a disc. Wrap it and pop in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight.

Take out the fridge and roll it out into a large disc, pop that in your tin and trim the edges, prick all over with a fork and pop back in the fridge while you make the endive base. For that you will need:

4 big endives

60g unsalted butter

30g caster sugar

A sprinkle of salt and ground black pepper

5 juniper berries crushed with the back of a knife

Method:

Trim off any damaged outer leaves from the endives and then cut into narrow slices longways.

Melt the butter in a wide frying pan, add the juniper berries, salt, pepper and chopped endives. Fry for a couple of minutes, sprinkle over the caster sugar and cook for around 6 minutes until nearly cooked through and slightly caramelized. Tip into a colander and allow to drain before spreading on the base of the pastry case.

Making the tart step by step

Pop the tart in the oven for 20 minutes. When the tart is cool then slice around 225g of Maroilles into thick slices and place on top of the endive base. Pop back in the oven, reduce the heat to 190°C and cook for a further 20 minutes. When it’s brown and bubbling remove from the heat and leave for 5 minutes before serving.

Perfect for a light Christmas lunch with a crunchy green salad and a zingy mustardy dressing.

Bon appetit!