vegetarian

Comte Cheese, Sweet Potato and Fig Tart, 460 calories

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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

Easter baking….

flidfit Uncategorized , , , , , , , ,

2016-03-28 13.08.14

Butternut squash is low calorie, filling and so tasty!
Kale grown in our garden.
Onions are caramalised and translucent.
Feta cheese, cubed
Toasted seeds and nuts, be careful not to burn!
Butternut squash, roasted. Adds a sweetness to the dish
This stage can look quite messy, but it doesn’t matter.
Sprinkle the pie filling in even layers.
Sprinkled with poppy seeds.
Ready to serve!

Easter probably comes a close second to Christmas when it comes to over indulgence and food.

To keep my self from eating it, I tend to busy myself with cooking it!

Today I’ve adapted a recipe I found on-line to make this scrumptious looking butternut squash, feta and kale pie.  It’s flavoured with nutmeg, red onion and toasted pumpkin and pine nut seeds with poppy seeds sprinkled on top.

One thing about attempting to lose weight is that pastry tends not to feature too often on the menu.  However, filo allows you to indulge in a little pastry consumption!

The recipe serves 8 and is around 282 calories a slice.  Perfect for a vegetarian menu and to provide a dinner party centre piece, which can be prepared well in advance.

I’ll need to add some pictures when I’ve cut into it, but as it’s not for consumption today, you’ll have to wait!

Butternut squash, feta and kale filo pie

Preparation Time: 1 hr
Cooking Time: 40 mins
Serves: 8
Calories per serving: 282.5
Garlic, Raw – 1 Clove/3g
Nutmeg, Ground – ½ Tsp/1.5g
Filo Pastry – 6 Sheets/270g
Onions, Red – 80g
Sunflower Oil – 5ml
Pumpkin Seeds – 2 Tbsps/20g
Pine Nuts – 20g
Poppy Seeds – 1 Tbsp/8.8g
Butter – 30g
Butternut Squash, Raw – 720g
Feta Cheese – 2 Servings/200g
Kale – 60g
Eggs, Medium – 2 Eggs/116g

Method

Preparation:

Peel and de-seed the butternut squash and cut into 1.5cm cubes. Spread onto a baking sheet and spray with the one calorie spray oil.

Peel and finely dice the red onion and the garlic. Roughly chop the kale into bite sized pieces. Cut the feta cheese into 1cm cubes.

Beat the two eggs in a mixing bowl.

Method:

(1) Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6.

(2) Once the oven has reached the right temperature, put the butternut squash in to cook for 30 minutes, turning half way through cooking time. The butternut squash should be soft and just starting to turn brown on the edges.

(3) One the butternut squash is cooked, lower the heat to 180 degrees.

(4) Pour the sunflower oil into a small pan and cook the onions in the oil until soft and turning golden. Add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes more. Transfer into a small dish.

(5) Add the seeds and nuts into the same frying pan and cook over a medium heat stirring frequently until the turn golden brown. Do not allow to burn! Immediately turn out into a small dish (so that they don’t continue to cook in the hot pan). When cool, add the nutmeg and stir through.

(6) Put the kale into a bowl and pour over boiling water. Leave to stand for about 5 minutes, and then drain in a colander, squeezing out excess water. Leave draining, as you want it to be as dry as possible.

(7) Melt the butter in a microwave or small pan. Use some of the melted butter to grease a non-stick loose-bottomed cake tin, about 20-22cm. Put the first sheet of filo in the tin and brush with the melted butter, letting the excess (around 7 – 10cm) hang over the sides. Keep going with the rest of the sheets, turning a little before adding each additional pastry sheet and brushing all over with the melted butter. It does not have to be neat! Retain any pieces of pastry that break off. Ensure that there are no gaps or splits in the base that will allow the filling to leak out.

(8) When all the pastry is used up, tip in the butternut squash cubes and arrange to evenly cover the bottom of the tin. Then add the kale, again, ensuring it’s evenly distributed. Add the fried onion/garlic and then the seeds/nuts.

(9) Pour over (evenly) about two-thirds of the beaten egg mixture, retaining the remainder to brush on the top of the pie.

(10) Fold over the excess pastry to cover, ensuring that the filling isn’t visible at all. You want to achieve a crumpled effect here, so add any of the broken sheets too. Brush the top with the remaining egg and sprinkle over the poppy seeds.

(11) Place the pie onto a baking sheet and then bake in the oven for about 20-30 minutes until the filo is crisp and golden. Leave for 5 minutes before turning out and cutting into wedges to serve.