A summery dish....carrot tart with cocoa crust

Hey guys!

How are you doing after this wonderful weekend?

Since we all had a lot of meat the last days (you know all the BBQs and stuff) I decided to go for vegetarian recipe this week.

Today we are baking a carrot tart with nuts and cocoa crust.

I don’t know if I already told you but I was a vegetarian for quite a long time. I started eating meat again in fall 2014. Today…to be honest…I’m still not a big fan of meat but I eat some chicken or turkey from time to time.

As always I start with the health benefits of this deliciousness:

• carrots – …have a great amount of carotene (the greatest of all veggies) and fiber. Moreover they contain a bunch of vitamin B and folic acid as well as vitamin D, E and K. These vitamins are fat-soluble, which means you can resorb them better if you add a little oil. Make sure that you eat carrots always with one tablespoon of oil to get all the benefits. 

•  nuts – …are rich in healthy unsaturated fatty acids and protein (15-20%, in comparison: roast beef has 9.5%). In addition they contain a lot of B vitamins and phytochemicals. But eat them consciously…as healthy they may be…they are really high in calories. (one hand full of nuts has around 650kcal).

• cocoa – Two tablespoons of cocoa powder contain about 1.5g of fat, 3.6g of fiber and notable amounts of magnesium and iron. Moreover cocoa has a lot of antioxidants, which may lower LDL cholesterol and high blood pressure. Be careful most of store-bought cocoa products have the flavonoids (antioxidants) removed because of their bitter taste. Try to get raw cocoa powder to obtain the health benefits without the sugar.

Before we start I have to thank my friend who helped me cooking. First she was a bit skeptical to compare cocoa and carrots but in the end she liked the tart quite a lot.

Now let’s start cooking!

First I prepared the crust. I combined 1 ½ cups of flour with 2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder, one egg, ½ cup of butter and ½ tablespoon of baking powder. I kneaded the dough until it came together to ball. Afterwards I wrapped it into foil and stored it in the fridge for about half an hour. 

Next I rolled it out and placed it in a greased pan. I pierced the crust with a fork several times to prevent that it rises too much. I baked it for about 20 minutes at 180°C [360F].

In the meantime I stir-fried two cups of peeled and sliced carrots.

  
Then I scrambled three eggs with one cup of sour cream and a pinch of salt.

Afterwards I spread the carrot slices on the crust and poured over the egg mix. At the last I put a few slices of goat cheese on top and baked the tart for about 30 minutes at 180°C [360F].

 

As soon as the cheese was melted I removed the tart from the oven and let it chill for about 10 minutes.  I decorated my piece of tart with some rocket and almond flakes.

Tell me what you think about the cocoa dough down below and let me know if you want to see a special recipe.

 

I hope you enjoy!

xoxo

Andrea