Caxton magazines staff“I don’t want to think that someone has been fiddling with the food on my plate for three hours,” says Inge Watrobski of Kassia & Figg (021 788 3337), a bakery and coffee shop. Instead she believes cooking should be informal and fun. Here are her recipes for a scrumptious brunch
INGREDIENTS
For the pastry:
- 2 cups cake flour
- 1T icing sugar
- pinch of salt
- 150g unsalted butter
- 1–2 free-range egg yolks
- ¼ cup cold water
For the filling:
- 4 red onions, finely sliced
- 2t olive oil
- 2t butter
- 1 garlic clove
- 1T chopped lemon thyme
- salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 1 bottle of artichoke hearts, drained and halved
- 50g freshly shaved Parmesan
- dried chilli flakes
For the egg mix:
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- ½ cup cream
- ½ cup grated cheddar
- 1T chopped chives
To serve:
- fresh chives, chopped
METHOD
1. To make the pastry: sieve together the flour, icing sugar and salt. Rub in the unsalted butter with your fingertips. Mix the yolks with the water and stir into the flour. Mix with a fork until the pastry starts to pull together. Wrap it in cling wrap and chill for half an hour.
2. Meanwhile, make the filling: sweat the onions slowly in the olive oil and butter. Add the garlic clove for a little extra depth. Add the lemon thyme and season with pepper and a little salt. Once the onions have softened, remove the garlic clove and put a lid on the pan and allow them to caramelise over a low heat.
3. Mix all the ingredients for the egg mix together.
4. Roll out the pastry and use it to line a shallow, buttered and floured 28cm tart tin.
5. Place the caramelised onions and artichokes into the flan base making sure you spread them evenly. Add generous shavings of Parmesan and one good grind of dried chilli flakes. Top with the egg mix.
6. Bake at 200°C for 20 minutes, or until puffed up and browned. Sprinkle over the fresh chives and serve warm.
This recipe serves 10 – 12.
