Maple, bacon and pumpkin tart recipe | Pinbone, Sydney (2024)

• 400 gm Jap pumpkin, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 12 long thin rashers (about 300gm) smoked flat bacon or speck, rind removed
• 50 ml (2½ tbsp) maple syrup

• 225 gm cold butter, chopped into small dice
• 250 gm (1 cups) plain flour
• 15 ml (3 tsp) white wine vinegar

• 2 cups (loosely packed) soft herbs, such as mint, dill, flat-leaf parsley and chives
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Main

• 1

  For puff pastry, melt 25gm butter in a small saucepan. Combine flour and ½ tsp sea salt flakes on a work surface, make a well in the centre, and add vinegar, butter and 100ml iced water. With your fingertips, knead into a smooth dough, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate to rest (2 hours). On a lightly floured surface, roll out pastry to a 30cm x 35cm rectangle. If it's too cold, set aside until still chilled but rollable. Scatter chilled butter in a 20cm square in the centre, then fold each corner of the pastry over into the centre to enclose butter fully. Rotate rectangle 90 degrees and roll to form a 20cm x 50cm rectangle. Fold the bottom third up and the top third down over that to enclose (business-letter style) and form 3 layers. Rotate 90 degrees, repeat rolling and folding, then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. This is one turn. Repeat rolling and folding process two more times.

• 2

  Preheat oven to 200C. Drizzle pumpkin with olive oil, season to taste and roast until golden and very soft (45-55 minutes). Set aside to cool, then mash with a fork until smooth.

• 3

  Roll out pastry to a rectangle that's 15cm x 35cm and 5mm thick. Transfer to a lightly floured baking tray and spread pumpkin evenly over pastry, leaving a 1cm border. Trim bacon to the width of the pastry and arrange crossways on top of pumpkin, overlapping slices until tart is covered. Bake until starting to colour and puff (15-20 minutes), then reduce temperature to 180C, brush tart with half the maple syrup and return to oven until golden and cooked through (7-10 minutes). Remove and brush with remaining maple syrup and season to taste.

• 4

  For herb salad, combine ingredients in a bowl, toss and serve with the warm tart. Tart will keep refrigerated for up to 2 days and reheats nicely.

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