Well last week, I jumped back in with both feet and head off to Weight Watchers meetings again. Being back on my diet, does not mean that I'm about to go all healthy with the recipes, it will mean that now and then there'll be some that are ProPoints based. Don't worry, the cakes, biscuits, cookies and ice cream are here to stay *phew*
Anyway, this weekend I had an unheard of Sunday-off and decided to make the most of the day.... in the kitchen!
I spend all week in there and most weekends, that I just couldn't walk away from it and 'do something different'. If truth be known, I had a glut of apples from the garden I wanted to use, a packet of ground almonds taunting me to take the macaron bull-by-the-horns, a decadent dessert that I'd been dreaming about all week and this month's Weight Watchers magazine had been sat on the coffee table open on a recipe since it dropped through the postbox. So, really the only way to get through all this, knowing I've the craziest week of the year cake-wise head, was to blitz everything in one go, on one day... that day was Sunday!
With all that baked and created, the next questions is where to start with the blog posts? Seeing as tonight I've had my first weigh-in, and 3lb down (go me!) I thought I'd start with that magazine recipe - Salmon and Broccoli tart.
Now, we all know that Ian's not a big fan of fish, but is slowly being converted. However, the salmon fillet in the recipe really wasn't his cup of tea, so I swapped this for a packet of smoked salmon I had in the freezer. I had a little confidence crisis in our quiche dish, it looked far too big for the recipe. I just managed to get the pastry to fit, and I bulked out the filling with a few chopped cherry tomatoes and shallots. Instead of eating the tart warm, I left it to cool over the afternoon, and we ate it with a simple rocket salad; it didn't really anymore than that. The only thing I'd tweak next time is the amount of lemon zest; at points it was a little over-powering, or maybe I just had a super strength lemon.
So there you go; salmon, vegetable and dill tart, weight watchers style, a little on the points heavy side at 11ProPoints per ¼, but you won't need anything else.
PrintSmoked Salmon, Vegetable and Dill Tart
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 slices 1x
Description
Adapted from recipe first published in Weight Watchers Magazine October 2013. 11 ProPoints per ¼ slice.
Ingredients
For the Pastry
- 150g plain flour
- 75g low fat spread
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp cold water
For the Filling
- 3 medium eggs
- 150g half fat creme fraiche
- 200g smoked salmon
- 100g broccoli
- 8 cherry tomatoes
- 2 shallots
- 1 spring onion
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 3 sprigs of rosemary, finely chopped
Instructions
To make the pastry
- In a large mixing bowl, sift the plain flour and add the low fat spread. Add the spread in chunks so that it is easier to work with.
- Using the tips of your fingers, gently rub together the flour and the low fat spread. Try not to overwork the flour and low fat spread. The mixture will come together to resemble fine breadcrumbs.
- Add 1 tbsp of cold water to the mixture. Mix the water into the flour and low fat spread mixture. It will start to come together into a dough.
- Add 1 tbsp of cold water to finish bringing together the dough. It should be smooth but not sticky.
- Roll the dough into a sausage and wrap in clingfilm. Pop it in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes, or if you are not using your dough at this point, it can be popped in the freezer for up to 1 month.
To make the pastry case
- Pre-heat your oven to 180C.
- You will need an 8 inch quiche dish, mine was 9 inch and a little on the larger size. A smaller dish will mean your tart is fills better. Lightly grease your quiche dish with low fat spread.
- Once the pastry has chilled, take it out of the fridge and unwrap from the clingfilm.
- Dust your work surface and rolling pin with plain flour.
- Using gentle but firm movements, roll out the pastry so that it is wide enough to cover the bottom and sides of your pastry dish.
- When you pastry is the right size, using your rolling pin, lift the pastry over your greased quiche dish and gently work the pastry into the dish, being careful not to tear where the sides and base meet. Gently work the pastry into the side flutes of your dish.
- When your dish is lined, gently roll your rolling across the top edges of the dish, to cut off any excessive pastry, and tidy up with a sharp knife.
- Prick the base of the pastry case all over with a fork.
- Line the base of the pastry case with crumbled baking paper, and fill with baking beans or dried rice.
- Bake blind the pastry case for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove the baking paper and baking beans and bake for another 5 minutes until the pastry is beginning to turn golden.
- When the pastry case is baked, take from the oven and allow to cool for 30 minutes, before filling. Alternatively, turn the pastry case out, and once cool, freeze to use at another date.
For the Tart
- Pre-heat your oven to 180C.
- Cook the broccoli in the microwave or simmer in a pan of water for 3 to 4 minutes, until it is just softening. Drain.
- In a small mixing bowl, beat the 3 eggs. Add the creme fraiche to the eggs, and mix well. Add the finely chopped dill and lemon zest to the mixture.
- Finely chop the shallots and spring onion.
- Quarter the cherry tomatoes.
- Scatter the broccoli and cherry tomatoes across the base of the pastry case. Tear the smoked salmon and scatter over the broccoli and tomatoes. Scatter the shallots and spring onions on top. Pour the egg and creme fraiche mixture over the fillings.
- Bake the tart for 30 minutes, until golden and the filling has set.
- Let the tart rest and cool a little before serving.
Notes
Serve warm or cold, with a simple green salad. Substitute the low fat spread for butter for a full fat pastry case. Freeze any pastry offcuts to make individual tarts at a later date.
Nelly Ritchie
I have just stumbled across your blog on pinterest when searching for WW friendly recipes. I absolutely love it! I am 1 week into my WW journey so will be following with interest.
Louise
Hello 🙂 It's a mixture of WW and other things, usually involving food. Hope you like and good luck! Have found your blog as well x
Helen Sims The good life mum
hey look at that! it looks amazing that has to be my favourite combination in a quice lovely photo too. Well done on your weight loss your a better woman than me so dedicated.
Louise
Thanks Helen. I love the combination in a quiche; it's nice and light, but still tasty! Heading on over now to your blog, thanks for asking me to link up x
Helen Sims The good life mum
your welcome pls pop over anytime i try and do a link weekly still loving your lovely grub and i will defo serve this up for dinner thanks for linking up to Bake it at The good life mum xx
Louise
Fab! I've added you to my Feedly lists so I can read you blog properly now and link up 🙂 x
mummymakescakes
I like salmon and dill but have never had it in a pie - it looks lovely 🙂
Debbie
I don't want to tempt fate but this looks like something I could actually get the children to eat. It looks fantastic!
Louise
Hehe, I'm sure they would. It was nice and light and not too "eggy". You could swap the salmon for ham maybe, or different vegetables. As a base recipe, I think it could be adapted quite easily.
Emily (@amummytoo)
Oooh, that looks pretty darn lovely and your photography is fabulous!
Louise
Thanks, it was rather tasty; a quite light tart, not at all stodgy. Photography is trial and error to see what works, at the moment, as I experiment a little more. I did a Capturing Childhood workshop which was really good.
Multi Layer Mummy
Oh good grief I love this!! I eat salmon every day, I really must try this, looks fantastic! xx
Louise
I love fresh salmon, I'd eat it everyday if I could; Ian's not overly keen 🙁 The tart was really light; the original recipe was for a fresh salmon fillet, pan-fried and then flaked into the tart. As I can only get Ian to eat smoked salmon, I substituted it, but it works really well x
marisworld
I love salmon too and this is a wonderful combination of flavours, looks good too. Well done on your weight loss too
Louise
Thank you 🙂 It's full of salmon and veggies, and the pastry is quite light so it's not too stodgy x
HELEN
that looks really nice, although I have to be really in the mood for salmon & my eldest won't eat it al all (about the only thing he doesn't eat!) so rarely buy it...congrats on the weightloss too!
thanks for joining in.
Louise
Thanks 🙂 I'd happily eat salmon everyday if I could. Ian on the other hand isn't really a fish person. He won't eat salmon, except smoked salmon x
Aimee / Wallflower Girl
I too am not a big fan of fish, in fact I used to be terrified by the idea of eating it, but am trying to include more of it in my diet. I'm doing great with salmon so far, especially smoked salmon so this would be a great recipe for me to try! Looks like a lovely dish to serve for lunch with friends too, will be bookmarking to try at some point 🙂
Louise
Thanks 🙂 Ian really isn't a fish person, but he's trying to eat more in his diet too. He used to be a strict fish fingers, tinned tuna and smoked salmon person, but is experimenting with other fish. I love fish though, I'd happily eat it rather than meat. This tart isn't really fish in flavour, so it works well if its the fishy-ness that puts you off x
Jennifer
It looks beautiful, and I bet it tasted delicious!
Louise
Thank you 🙂 It certainly did, will definitely make it again.
jenny paulin
firstly well done on the weight loss 🙂 great news
secondly, that quiche looks deliche (see what i did there lol). nicely set and full of yummy salmon and you can see that pastry is homemade. i could easily eat that!
thank you for linking up x
Louise
Thank you 🙂 It was really lovely. We ate it over 2 nights and it was just as good the second time round; no soggy bottom x