I’m in my rustic-cook-healing-era, and to me, that means getting creative with my food – which especially means this potato tart with mint pea pesto. When I say rustic-girl-healing-era, I mean I’m looking to find the simpleness in food again, and not always be reaching for the most out-there flavors or the most viral-worthy content. I need to remind myself of this time and again, and doing it always feels grounding, not to mention pretty delicious. But enough about my rustic pie-baking – onto this tart!
This potato tart is beautiful, but it’s also relatively simple to compile. You just start with a pie crust (I always use the same one), quickly blanch your greens and blend the pesto, then slice and toss the potatoes in honey and vinegar. The pie crust does require some par-baking, but that’s just another step right before assembling and baking your tart. Yes, this is a commitment recipe, but making this potato tart is so fun, and so worth it. And of course, I wouldn’t leave you hanging, so I’ve compiled a few helpful tips to guide you along the way.
Table of contents
Ingredients you will need for this potato tart
This potato tart has a lot of components, but they all repeat themselves throughout the recipe, and they are all designed to enhance this rustic potato tart’s flavor. Here’s everything you’ll need:
- 1 recipe of all-butter pie crust
- 1 cup baby spinach
- 1/4 cup fresh basil
- 1/4 cup fresh mint
- 1 cup english peas
- 1/4 cup raw almonds, reserving 2 almonds for garnish
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper as needed
- 1 large potato, like russet, yukon gold, etc.
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
How to prepare the pesto and potatoes
The pesto and potatoes are the most time consuming part of prep. You can definitely skip the blanching if you want to, but all the ingredients should definitely be present so that you get all the flavor that this tart is looking for! Here’s a simple breakdown of the pesto and potatoes for this tart:
For the mint pea pesto – Blanch the mint, basil and spinach together and set aside. In the same boiling water, cook the English peas and set aside. Add the spinach, basil, mint, peas, almonds, garlic, red pepper flakes, lemon juice and 1/4 cup of olive oil to a food processor. Season generously with salt and black pepper and process until a chunky mint pesto forms. Add 1-2 tablespoons of ice water to thin it out as needed. Season to taste and place it in the fridge until you need it.
For the potatoes – Quarter the potato lengthwise. Use a mandolin to slice it into long, thin strips. They should be thin enough to wrap around your finger.
In a large bowl whisk together the honey, vinegar, and another tablespoon of olive oil. Season with salt and a lot of cracks of black pepper. Toss the potato strips with this mixture, coating them well.
What does it mean to par-bake a pie crust?
Now that the filling is assembled, we need to look at the tart. To prevent any soggy-bottom issues, we are par-baking the pie crust of this potato tart. This means baking the crust with a few weights on it (more on that later) for 15-20 minutes before adding the filling. This is common practice with pies and tarts, and what it does is prevents the crust from puffing up, while giving it more baking time (without fillings) to firm up and achieve a buttery, flaky, crispy bottom.
Pie beans, or pie weights are used to weight down the tart crust as you par-bake. These little weights are usually scattered on top of parchment paper so that there is a barrier between them and the crust. I prefer using dried beans, and I store them in my pantry to use again and again. They are my baking beans 🙂
How to assemble and bake this tart
After the crust has been par-baked, assembling the tart is ready to go. Just spread a decent layer of the pesto on the bottom (you should use up the whole recipe’s quantity) and layer the potatoes on top. How I like to layer the potatoes is by looping them around my finger, then creating a checkerboard patter with the loops. You can see below for a better reference image of this potato tart.
FAQ
This also works with zucchini, although it can be a bit more temperamental. I recommend sticking with potatoes for this particular recipe and bake time!
You absolutely don’t have to, it’s just fun! You can also cut your potatoes into thin medallions and lay them in a flat, cyclical design on top 🙂
Absolutely, store bought is fine. And makes this recipe accidentally vegan!
Looking for similar recipes?
Here are a few other crowd-pleasing show stoppers!
A big note on this recipe
A big note – and an honest note! Most of my blog traffic comes from my social media channels, of which I am immensely grateful. And sometimes, a video shows something and that isn’t perfect. In this case, my video showed a HIGHLY underdone tart. I’ve rectified that issue with a new baking time and new imagery (see below), so that your tarts don’t summer the same issue. The key takeaways in this learning lesson: 1) I didn’t want to scrap a whole video because of an honest mistake and, 2) I will always test and do right by you in the recipe. So bake this long and dark, you won’t regret it.
And that’s it for this potato tart!
If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.
And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3
Potato Tart with Mint Pea Pesto
Equipment
- Rolling Pin
- 1 large pot
- 1 small food processor
- 1 9" diameter tart pan
Ingredients
- 1 recipe of all-butter pie crust
- 1 cup baby spinach
- 1/4 cup fresh basil
- 1/4 cup fresh mint
- 1 cup english peas
- 1/4 cup raw almonds reserving 2 almonds for garnish
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper as needed
- 1 large potato like russet, yukon gold, etc.
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
Instructions
- Prepare and chill the pie crust in the fridge. Chill for at least 1 hour before rolling out.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pie crust into a circle large enough to fit the tart pan. Transfer the crust to the tart pan, press into the edges, remove any excess dough and transfer the crust back to the fridge to chill.
- Blanch the spinach, basil and mint. Squeeze out any excess water.
- In the same boiling water, boil the english peas until they are tender about 3-4 minutes. Transfer to the blanching ice bath.
- Add the spinach, basil, mint, peas, almonds, garlic, red pepper flakes, lemon juice and 1/4 cup of olive oil to a food processor. Season generously with salt and black pepper and process until a chunky mint pesto forms. Add 1-2 tablespoons of ice water to thin it out as needed. Season to taste and set aside.
- Quarter the potato lengthwise. Use a mandolin to slice it into long, thin strips.
- In a large bowl whisk together the honey, vinegar, and another tablespoon of olive oil. Season with salt and a lot of cracks of black pepper. Toss the potato strips with this mixture, coating them well.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- When the oven is ready, weigh down the tart crust with parchment paper and baking beans and par bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove the tart from the oven and spread the pea pesto in an even layer on the bottom. One at a time, roll the potato strips into small loops, layer them in the tart (see blog for images). Season with more black pepper.
- Bake the tart for 40-50 minutes, or until the potatoes are starting to get a rich dark brown color on top and are cooked through.
- Grate 2 almonds over the tart using a microplane, dot fresh basil and mint on top of the finished tart as well. Slice and serve.
I know this recipe has only just been put up, but it came up at the perfect time!! I brought it to a springy picnic, and it was a hit! I used pistachios rather than almonds because I thought it would be very complementary, but everyone loved it and I was nervous about making something for other people for the first time, since I’m a home cook. But this was easy to follow, joyful and above all delicious 🙂
Looks so tasty! Do you think it would freeze well? Might pre-make for upcoming mother-in-law visit…
It will chill well after baking but unfortunately it’s not great frozen – the reheating hurts the crust. I’m so sorry about that!