Easter is just about here! It definitely came sooner than anyone realized, and most of us probably forgot to even make plans. However, if you need something for the Easter table, this is a savory and sweet centerpiece that will get eaten up quickly: roasted carrot tart with honey ricotta and goat cheese.
This is pretty quick to prepare and doesn’t require too much artistry. You will need one package of puff pastry, which creates a buttery and flaky crust that can’t be beat. Make sure to keep your puff pastry frozen until the day you plan to use it. I like to move the puff pastry to the fridge a couple hours before I get started, and then I remove it from the fridge and put it on the counter only about 10 minutes before I need it.
Puff pastry melts SOOO fast and can become a sticky mess quickly, so it’s easier to work with colder dough. Trust me, I’ve made some mushy looking empanadas because I let the box defrost too long.
All you need to do is unwrap it, roll it out, and bake it in the oven. Be sure to treat it like a pie: pinch all the edges and prick it all over with a fork. We want the pastry to be fluffy but not TOO inflated – otherwise it won’t work out so well!
Roast the carrots
Nothing special here, slice up your carrots! Don’t use baby carrots for this. They are just too small and wet and we want them to still be crunchy when they come out the oven. I like the tricolor packs from Trader Joe’s. Just be sure to rinse them and chop the little tops off.
I toss them with thyme because they taste soooo nice with the cheese. Add some salt and pepper and throw them in the oven until roasted.
Assemble the carrot tart
All we need to do is to mix together the ricotta and the goat cheese with some honey and we are ready to go. You could probably also use feta or another crumbly or creamy cheese (like mascarpone or even cream cheese).
Spoon the cheese and honey mixture onto the puff pastry and be careful when you do it – you might rip up some of the layers if you use a rough hand. Then line the carrots into two rows. I like to spread out the ones that aren’t orange across the tart first, so that the colors are evenly spaced out 🙂
And that’s it!! It’s pretty delicious and is done in 30 minutes if you are quick! If you want more spring recipes, try my Triple Berry Sour Cream Crumb Cake or my Browned Butter Espresso Banana Bread.
Roasted Carrot Tart with Honey Ricotta & Goat Cheese
Equipment
- 2 sheet pans
- Rolling Pin
- small bowl
- spoon
- foil or parchment paper
Ingredients
- 14 oz frozen puff pastry, refrigerated (1 package)
- flour for rolling out the pastry dough
- 1 lb carrots, preferably multicolored washed and halved lengthwise
- 1 tbsp thyme
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch pepper
- 5 oz goat cheese
- ½ cup ricotta cheese
- 2 tbsp honey
- parsley for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. On a lightly floured work surface, unwrap the puff pastry and pinch together the seams that might be broken. Roll it out with a rolling pin, until it becomes about 15 inches wide (the long sides – so still rectangle shaped).
- Place the puff pastry on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper. Pinch the edges like you would a pie, but know that it will expand anyway. Prick the puff pastry all over with a fork to prevent it from rising too much. Place in the center rack of an oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare you carrots by tossing them on a baking sheet with the olive oil, thyme, and a large pinch of salt and pepper. Once tossed, arrange them on a baking sheet and pop them in the over under the pastry for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes.
- In a bowl, mix together the goat cheese, ricotta cheese and honey with a spoon. You may have to mash it up a bit. Salt to taste if you'd like.
- Once the puff pastry has cooled enough, spoon the cheese mixture carefully all over the pastry, leaving an inch or so border all the way around. Smooth it out as best as you can without pulling up the flaky layers. Then carefully arrange the carrots, creating two rows going across the top and bottom. Sprinkle with parsley. Slice and enjoy!
