Although this blog’s primary role is to chart my weight loss journey, I’ve also learned to appreciate and embrace my love of food and enjoy trying new recipes and flavours.

Part of why I ended up being 4 and a half stone (28.5kg) overweight was my love of food!

A large part of my journey has been accepting that I have to reduce my calorie intake to match my lack of mobility (and limbs…).

No food is off limits – but increasing my knowledge of the calories contained in various food stuffs has enabled me to make more informed and better choices about what I eat and how much.

Occasionally, a recipe arouses my interest.  I just feel I need to try it.  This was such a recipe.  Highly calorific for someone who’s daily calorie intake target is around 1300 calories.

It was SO worth it!

The ingredients are all pretty healthy and the fat content will ensure that you feel satiated after enjoying a slice of this tart.  The colour was stunning, the honey and nut flavours worked really well.  Not too sweet – but the slices of figs give an occasional burst of sweetness.

My advice is not to try and go low fat or fat free with this – fat is flavour.

Was a slice worth 460 calories – YES.

Comte Cheese, Sweet Potato and Fig Tart – 460 calories

Preparation Time:           30 mins

Cooking Time:                  35 mins

Serves:                                  8

Calories per serving:     460

 

Ingredients

Spelt Flour                           -200g

Salt                                     – ¼ Tsp/1g

Unsalted Butter                    -100g

Walnuts, Halves                   – 40g

Medium Free Range Eggs    – 5 Eggs/250g

Whole Milk                          – 100ml

Creme Fraiche                     – 175g

Dijon Mustard                      – 2 Tsps/10g

Sweet Potato, Raw              – 2 Potatoes/400g

Figs, Raw, Fresh                  – 3 Figs/105g

Comte Cheese                     – 125g

Thyme, Fresh                      –  2 Tsps/2g

Pepper, Black                      -1 Tsp/2g

Salt                                     – ¼ Tsp/1.25g

 

Preparation

Coarsely grate cheese, peel the sweet potatoes, cut into 2cm cubes and steam in a little water in a covered pan for 5 minutes. Slice figs.

To make the pastry:

Place the walnuts and half the flour in a food processor and blitz until fine.

Add the butter, cut into cubes and pulse until you achieve a breadcrumb texture. If required, add a little splash of cold water to make the mixture come together to form a firm dough. Wrap dough in cling film and rest it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Generously butter a 25cm/10 inch well-buttered tart dish – ideally with a loose base.
Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and line a 22cm/8 ½ inch well-buttered tart dish – ideally with a loose base.

Place the pastry gently into the dish and chill in the fridge for a further 20 minutes whilst you preheat the oven to 180 degrees/Gas 4.

Remove the pastry case from the fridge and line the base of the pastry with baking parchment. Fill with baking beans. Place the dish on a baking tray and bake blind for 20 minutes.

Remove the beans and parchment and return to the oven for another five minutes to cook the base.

For the filling:

Once the base of the tart is cooked, place the (grated) cheese on the bottom first, then the sweet potato cubes. Whisk together the creme fraiche, milk, eggs, thyme leaves and mustard.

Season generously with a couple of pinches of sea salt and a good grinding of black pepper.

Pour the egg mixture into the flan case to cover the cheese and potato. Slice the figs into quarters and place on the top. Return the tart to the oven.

Cook for 30-35 minutes, or until the filling is just set. Leave to cool slightly, for 10 minutes before serving.

Nutrition Data Per Serving

Calories (kcal)          – 460

Protein (g)                – 14.4

Carbohydrate (g)    – 29.8

Fat (g)                       – 31.8

Fibre (g)                   – 4.2

Fruit & Veg              – 0.8