Six years ago, during our September 2014 Kea Artisanal Cooking vacation classes I made this pizza-like tart for the first time.
It was the day we devote to bread and the different, sweet and savory variation one can create with just one basic dough; I had just happened to see Cali Doxiadis’ recipe and decided to try it with some of our leftover dough, after we made loaves, the cheese-stuffed buns, and the tomato or pepper-topped lagana (flat breads) we usually make.
Cali recently shared the FaceBook photos had posted ‘6-years ago’ during my very first try on the Harvest Tart.
In her recipe Cali writes: “…the original inspiration for this sweet and somewhat savoury tart is an Italian recipe for Schiacciata con Grappoli d’Uva, but several adaptations later, it is nearly unrecognisable. It has become a sort of crisp but chewy round flatbread, or sweet peppery pizza…” In that first harvest tart my bread crust –I did not use Cali’s recipe– was OK, but not ideal, as the fruits were not well-incorporated on top, while the bottom was somewhat soggy. But it accompanied ideally the aged cheeses we served it with, especially the particularly spicy Sifnos Manoura, which ages in wine sediment.
When I made the tart again I chose to use instead of bread or pizza dough, the olive-oil-and-orange pastry that is so wonderful in my vegan olive pies. I had gotten the recipe many years from Zoe Evangelou, a lady I met at my friend Roxani Matsa’s winery, in Kantza; later I encountered very similar crust and olive pies in Cyprus. It is an easy and delicious crust that can easily accommodate both savory and/or sweet filling or topping.
Cali had recently shared the FaceBook photos I had posted ‘6-years ago’ during my very first try on the Harvest Tart, reminding me to try once again this simple Mediterranean treat which I had almost forgotten….
TO MAKE THE TART:
Follow the ingredients and instructions for crust of the Vegan Olive Pie, halving the recipe (2 instead of the 4 cups of flour) for a 25-30 cm. pie. Line the pan with parchment paper and stretch the dough to cover the pan, then sprinkle with sugar, preferably light brown, and follow Cali’s recipe for the grape and fig topping, preferably choosing various kinds of grapes and more figs, if you happen to have plenty, as I do these days.
Sprinkle with some sugar on top of the fruit and bake in a 200 C oven for 30 minutes or more, until the crust is done and starts to color and the fruits wilted and bubbly.
As it is obvious the baked Harvest Tart is not as spectacular as the raw one, but it will be delicious! Trust me, and also my old friend Cali Doxiadis who lives in Corfu –on the northwestern part of Greece– enjoying her spectacular garden, and of course cooking!
