Cauliflower cheese and smoked bacon tart

Ingredients

• 1 pack readymade short crust pastry
• 1 small cauliflower broken into small florets
• 4 rashers smoked bacon roughly chopped
• 1 onion diced
• 3 eggs beaten
• 500ml crème fraiche
• 100g grated strong cheddar
• Small bunch chives chopped

Method

1. preheat to oven to 170C. On a floured surface unroll the pastry and grate nutmeg over half. Fold over and roll out to fir your flan dish. Line a 23cm loose bottomed flan tin by gently pushing the pastry into the corners leaving the excess to hang over the edges. Line the pastry with greaseproof paper and weight it down with dried beans or ceramic beans, cook for 15mins then remove the beans and greaseproof and cook for a further 8 mins or until the pastry is pale golden.
2. In a pan of boiling water simmer the cauliflower for 5 mins until it starts to soften then drain and set aside. Frying the lardons until brown, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Turn the heat down and genty cook the onion in the same pan for 3-4 mins until soft.
3. Using a knife trim the excess pastry from the case. Tip the cauliflower and bacon into the pastry shell so they are fairly evenly distributed. In a bowl combine the eggs, crème fraiche, chives and half the cheese and season to taste. Pour the egg mixture into the pastry case and top with the remaining cheese. Cook in the oven for 30 mins until the top is golden brown and it’s cooked through with just a slight wobble in the centre. Serve warm or cold.

Notes