Sluttishly Savoury: Salmon & Broccoli Tart

Pastry is a huge faff, but it always impresses people when they hear you've made your own. And at least it can be made the day before so you don't have to rush around at the time. I like to make this on a Sunday afternoon and then have a slice for lunch on Monday. If there's any left.

If pastry is too much and you're feeling really lazy, just buy some ready made shortcrust or even a pre-cooked shortcrust case.

Salmon & Broccoli Tart (serves 6)


You'll need:


For the pastry

• 115g unsalted butter (cold from the fridge, diced up into small chunks)
• 230g plain flour, sifted
• Pinch salt
• 1 egg yolk
• Splash of cold water

For the filling

• 2 fillets of salmon
• Handful of broccoli florets
• 5 eggs
• 100ml full fat milk

Make it!

• First prepare the filling by poaching the salmon. Bring some water to the boil, gently slip in the salmon fillets and simmer them gently for around 5 minutes. 
• Meanwhile, simmer the broccoli florets in salted water for around 4 minutes until tender with a little bit of crunch.
• Drain both the salmon and broccoli. Leave them to cool while you make the pastry.
• Now for the pastry. Rub the flour and salt into the cold butter with your fingertips until the mixture looks like damp sand or breadcrumbs and there are no big blobs of butter in it. 
• Mix together the yolk and a tbsp of the cold water in a separate container. Add a little at a time and mix the mixture gently until it comes together into a dough.
• Form the dough into a ball, cover it with clingfilm and pop it into the fridge for an hour.
• Now's the time to have a cup of tea, put your feet up or read the rest of Domestic Sluttery.
• Preheat the oven to 200c.
• Get the pastry out of the clingfilm and roll it out so it's about 5mm thick.
• Line a 20cm tart tin with the pastry. Put it back in the fridge for 30 minutes.
• Line the pastry with some greaseproof paper and fill it with baking beans (or rice, or dried beans if you don't have any baking beans). This supports the pastry so the sides don't fall in and the bottom doesn't puff up too much.
• Bake for around 10 minutes until the sides are cooked.
• Remove from the oven and (carefully) remove the paper and beans. Bake for a further 5 minutes.
• Let the pastry case cool. Reduce the oven temp to 180c.
• Now, to assemble. Artfully arrange the broccoli and salmon in the tart case.
• Beat together the eggs and milk with some seasoning. Pour over the filling to fill in all the gaps.
• Bake for around 25-30 minutes until the tart is set in the middle.