Lea Hogg

I am a very early riser and sitting in the middle of a peaceful garden this morning at sunrise, not too hot yet, a light breeze, the most perfect weather, I share with you one of a series of tarts I did for a feature in Brilliant Baking Magazine.

The ingredients come from this Mediterranean garden and I have also used ricotta, a most common ingredient here that you will find any day in every local kitchen.

This is a salad in a healthy pie crust made with olive oil and pistachios.

You must not worry as some of you may think my cooking is too experimental but these flowers are those of common sage that we use every day in a Western kitchen and it is the season when they are flowering at the moment, beautiful at their peak. They are completley edible and taste exactly like the leaf, only a bit milder with a more delicate texture. Unlike the sage leaf, there is no toughness and they do not need to be cooked.

Follow the recipe for the pistachio pie crust and baking blind

For the filling, I have used the same ingredients you would use in a quiche, it is an uncooked quiche, a salad in a crust, on of many that I have made recently.

200g ricotta
1 egg hard boiled
Salt and freshly ground pepper
200g Artichoke hearts, cooked and peeled, or shop bought, sliced
Sage flowers
Some arugula leaves
A drizzle of olive oil
A squeeze of lemon, do not overdo it

Arrange the arugula on the cool pie crust. Cover with a thin layer of mashed up ricotta. Hard boil the egg and chop it up. Place on top of the ricotta. Neatly arrange the sliced artichokes on top of the pie. Top with the sage flowers. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Drizzle with some olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. Serve.

Trade Enquiries:
Allinson’s flour is available via Borg and Aquilina

Kitchenware by K&Co Telephone 79415384

Fruit and Vegetables by Big Fresh, Oscar’s Fruit and Vegetables and Barbuto [Organic]