Cooking without Chemicals with Tom Hunt – Upside-down Broccoli Tart

by Tom Hunt

This upside-down tart honours the humble broccoli by transforming it into a

showstopping centrepiece. Using the whole vegetable, leaves included, celebrates its nutty,

caramelised flavour while reducing waste. The topping is a classic Italian-inspired

combination of halved black olives, capers, chilli flakes, pecorino Romano, ricotta and fresh

mint, adding salty, creamy and herby layers that elevate the naturally sweet broccoli.

Tom Hunt is an award-winning chef, food educator, writer, climate change activist and author. This recipe was first published in his book Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet. https://www.tomsfeast.com

Ingredients (Serves 4 as a main or 8 as a starter)

2–3 tbsp olive oil

2–3 tbsp honey or sugar (or maple syrup)

1 large broccoli (or cauliflower)

4–6 tbsp ricotta (plus extra for serving)

2–3 tbsp capers

2–3 tbsp black olives, halved

Pinch of chilli flakes

30–40g pecorino Romano, finely grated

500g puff pastry (shop-bought or homemade)

Small handful of fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped

Sea salt and black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C (fan) and line a large baking tray with parchment paper.

Halve the broccoli and cut two or three thick “steaks”, about 2–3cm thick.

Lay the steaks on the tray and lightly trace around them to mark their outlines.

Remove the broccoli and drizzle olive oil and honey (or your chosen sweetener) inside the traced areas.

Season with salt and pepper, then scatter the capers, halved black olives and a pinch of chilli flakes.

Place the broccoli steaks back within their outlines and spread each with a generous spoonful of ricotta.

Sprinkle over the grated pecorino Romano.

Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and cut pieces that extend about 4cm beyond each broccoli steak.

Drape the pastry over the top, pressing gently around the edges. Brush lightly with a little extra ricotta.

Set the tray over a medium-low hob for 3–5 minutes, moving occasionally to allow the base to caramelise gently.

Once the honey begins to bubble, transfer the tray to the oven and bake for 25 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and golden.

Rest for five minutes, then carefully flip the tart onto a board to reveal the caramelised broccoli. Scatter over the fresh mint and serve warm with an extra spoonful of ricotta.

Something that really annoys me…

by Kenneth Keavey

Something that really upsets me is the fact that supermarkets not only sell fresh produce for next to nothing, but they also reject perfectly good produce, leading to increased food waste.

Have you ever seen a head of broccoli like the one in this video that weighs close to a kilogram and looks a bit wonky on a supermarket shelf? You will not, I think. They will never allow something like that for sale. More than likely the broccoli you get in supermarkets will be imported, will always be 400g, probably won’t be that fresh and will be wrapped in plastic and will usually be sprayed with chemicals and be very cheap. Did you know that a broccoli plant is quite big and will produce just one head in its lifespan? It takes quite a bit to bring a broccoli plant to harvest.  

During the week I had a conversation with our potato grower, Cameron from Battlemountain Organic Farm. We needed to discuss potato pricing, we had a frank discussion and came to a fair agreement for him and for us, one we were both happy with. 

If that conversation had went differently and it could have, then that would have been the end of our relationship and would have caused hardship for his farm.  It would not have been fair, and it is certainly not our way. We are growers and we know a little about the costs and the challenges involved in producing and selling fresh organic produce and believe in paying fairly.

Supermarket buyers take a different approach to paying for their produce and this has led to the decimation of the Irish horticultural industry. Only 2% of farms in Ireland now grow vegetables.

The most recent national field vegetable census showed that the number of field vegetable growers fell from 377 in 1999 to 165 in 2014. That is a contraction of 56%.

But supermarkets want it all their own way, there is few countries where fresh produce is as devalued as it is here in Ireland. It really bothers me, obviously it bothers me because it makes it so difficult to stay in business with this backdrop, but it also bothers me because it undermines our food security and has caused untold damage to our indigenous vegetable industry.

Supermarkets demand the cheapest possible price and the most rigorous specifications leading to hardship for growers. 

It is a broken food system. The funny thing is it would take very little to fix it, what if for example the specification on broccoli was relaxed to be above a certain weight, and if there was a slight increase in the price of the product and that went back to the grower and not to the supermarket, then that would fix a lot.  

Your support keeps us in business and supports not only our own organic farm but many other Irish organic producers too.

Kenneth