Corn, Spring Onion and Ricotta Tart

A lovely meatless dish....and you can serve it hot or cold. The polenta crust has a nice crunch to it and the sweetness of the corn is balanced by the scallions. Each mouthful has a creamy texture from the ricotta. Lots of flavors going on here and not only does it make a pretty presentation, but is simple to make. Your entire family will love it.

Corn, Spring Onion and Ricotta Tart
By Jade Donohoo, Eat This My Friend via Food 52

Ingredients for the tart shell:

1 cup flour, sifted
3/4 cup uncooked polenta

1/2 cup butter, cold, plus extra for greasing

1 egg

pinch sea salt

1 tablespoon ice water

Ingredients for the filling:

3 ears of corn

4 eggs

3 scallions, thinly sliced

Scant 1/2 cup fresh ricotta

1/4 cup heavy cream

few big pinches of salt

Freshly-ground pepper

Method:

Place flour, polenta, butter, and salt into a food processor and pulse until the butter is combined. Add the egg and iced water. Pulse until the mixture comes together. Turn dough out onto a lightly-floured bench and knead for a minute. Form the dough into a ball and cover with cling film. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 395°F. 

Remove pastry from fridge and roll out until you have a circular shape thick and wide enough to fit in a large flan tin. 

Grease a flan tin with butter and lay the pastry over the top. (It will not hold together very well, that's OK, you can fix it later) Press the pastry in the pan and up the sides in with your fingers. Keep the leftover pastry in case you need to patch up any holes. 

Place foil over the top and fill it with dried beans or pastry weights. Place in the oven to bake for about 20 minutes. 

While the pastry is baking, remove the kernels from the corn cobs. Place the 4 eggs, cream, salt, and corn kernels into the food processor (no need to wash it after making the pastry!) and pulse briefly until combined. Stir in the thinly sliced spring onions. When the pastry is baked, remove the weights and pour in the corn mixture. Break the ricotta up into small chunks and dot it evenly around the mixture. Place it back into the oven and bake until set, about 20 minutes. Grind over some freshly-cracked pepper before serving.