Vegetable Spiral Tart

Maybe you’ve seen pictures of this gorgeous spiral tart all over the internet, but I first made it 3 years ago when I saw it on pinterest. I wanted to make it vegan but you can absolutely use your favorite non-vegan dough and fillings. What’s fun about this tart is that it can be filled with whatever vegetables you like (as long as they can be shaved or sliced into long strips) 
The dough that I like to use is an olive oil and herb dough, but you can use your favorite pie crust recipe or storebought too. ​

​HERB AND OLIVE OIL DOUGH
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
​1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried herbs (I love rosemary or lemon thyme but use whatever you like most) 
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup water or plain unsweetened plant milk

Mix flour, salt & herbs together in a bowl. Make a little well and pour in your liquid ingredients. Mix together with a fork until just combined, then turn out onto a floured work surface for a quick knead until it comes together into a ball. Dust with flour and use a rolling pin to flatten out into a circle. Transfer onto your tart pan and push sides into the grooves. Use a knife to trim the excess. Prick all over with a fork and blind bake at 350°F for about 10-15 minutes (until it’s golden brown). 

FILLING
Under the beautiful vegetable spiral you’ll need some sort of filling. Here you can really get creative. I usually like to spread a layer of garlic hummus or a flavored vegan cream cheese. Kite Hill has chive, everything, and garden veggie and all of these work great. Plus one container fills up the tart perfectly. If you want this to be more of a ratatouille style, you can lay down some thick tomato sauce. I’ve even made this with a layer of pesto. If you’re not vegan I think a layer of ricotta cheese or a bechamel sauce would work well.  Get creative! 

THE SPIRAL
Okay, this is what you’re all here for. The vegetable spiral on top looks STUNNING but is actually pretty easy to make as long as you have your vegetables all prepped. You can use whatever vegetables you like, but I really love to incorporate as many colors as possible. The more straight the shape of vegetable, the easier it is to get thin slices, so if you’re at the market you might want to maybe skip over the really fun shaped zucchinis and squashes. You’ll need about 4-6 cups of vegetables for an entire tart. Here’s what I like to use in mine:

Ingredients:
1 eggplant
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
3 large carrots
1/4 cup olive oil 

1.Cut your vegetables into long thin strips, all the same thickness. A mandolin makes this the easiest (please watch your fingers) but a vegetable peeler or good knife skills can work too. . If your veggies are very wide, you may have to cut each strip in half lengthwise. I usually have to do this for the eggplant so that it’s not taller than all the other veggies. Get all of your veggies cut and ready and a bowl of olive oil. 

​2. Once you have your tart filling spread along the bottom of the crust, you’re ready to spiral. Dip each vegetable strip into the oil, or use a brush if you prefer.. Start with your first strip (anything but carrot) and create a tight spiral on your cutting board. This is going to be your centerpiece so make sure it’s as tight as possible. You can wrap one more strip around to secure the spiral, and then move this to the center of your filled tart. 

3. Continue wrapping immediately so things stay nice and tight. Alternate between all the vegetables as you go. As you get closer to the crust you can really start to pack them in so that I have as many layers as possible. Once the tart is full, pour any remaining oil on top and sprinkle with salt and pepper. 

​4. Bake at 350°F for about 50 minutes. The vegetables should still have a bit of texture to them. Cool for a bit before you slice and serve!