Heart Shaped Red Cabbage Pear Gouda Tart

Valentine’s recipes to make for Valentine’s lunch or dinner usually take a backseat. Here’s me showing savory Valentine’s recipes some love.

This beautiful heart shaped tart contains beautiful red cabbage, is heart shaped and perfect for any Valentine’s Day meal, breakfast, lunch or dinner.

This luscious tart also contains fresh pear, gouda cheese, and walnuts. The walnuts are optional. I added them for extra crunch and flavor. Usually, I toast nuts before adding them to a recipe to bring out their flavor. I left them raw and naked here, perfectly sexy for Valentine’s recipe.

The tart does take a bit of time to create, there are several steps and a 45-minute chill time for the crust. If you are short on time, make the tart shell and the cabbage filling ahead of time and assemble the tart and bake the day of.

The crust is enough for a 10-inch tart with some dough leftover to cut shapes for decoration. I obviously used hearts for a Valentine’s Day theme but you can cut any shape – stars for July 4th celebration or Christmas, rabbits for easter or use letters to spell out a person, place or thing. Or just skip that step entirely and use a bigger tart pan.

You can substitute whole wheat flour for the all-purpose version, an apple for the pear and your favorite cheese and/or nut variety to customize the tart to your or your loved ones’ liking.

This is a “heart”y dish (haha. See what I did there?) One slice served with a small, simple side salad is a meal. Heres’ to one dish dinners which leave plenty of other things to do on a romantic evening.

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Heart Shaped Red Cabbage, Pear, Gouda Tart

Course Brunch, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine German

Prep Time 45 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Chill Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes

Servings 8 Servings

Author Lora Wiley-Lennartz

Ingredients

For the Crust:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper.
• Pinch white granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces
• 5 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

For the Filling:

• 1/2 head of red cabbage about 1+1/4 lbs.
• 1 red onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 pear
• 1 tablespoon clarified butter
• 1 cup pear juice
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup shredded gouda cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped raw walnuts optional

Instructions

Make the Crust:

1. Add the flour, salt pepper, and granulated sugar in a food processor. Pulse until combined.
2. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture becomes a crumb-like texture.
3. Pulse in 1 egg and the egg yolk.
4. When the dough comes together. Remove from the processor and flatten gently into a disk shape. Wrap in plastic cling film and chill for 45 minutes.

Make the Filling:

1. Remove the stem from the red cabbage and cut the cabbage into thin strips.
2. Peel and dice the onion.
3. Peel and mince the garlic clove.
4. Peel and core the pear and cut into quarters. Cut two of the quarters into small pieces. Slice the other two into sections lengthwise.
5. Heat the clarified butter in a large skillet, add the garlic and onion and cook, stirring, until the onions become transparent.
6. Add the red cabbage to the pan and stir to coat. Cook until the cabbage starts to soften, about 5 minutes.
7. Add the pear juice to the pan. Stir to coat and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
8. Stir the chopped pear into the mixture. Season with the nutmeg and kosher salt to taste.
9. Turn down the heat, cover and let the mixture simmer for 15 minutes.
10. Remove from heat and let cool completely.

Assemble the Tart:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Grease and flour a 10 inch heart-shaped or round tart pan, preferably one with a removable bottom.
4. Roll out the crust dough on a lightly floured surface.
5. Lift the dough and lightly press it into the pan, crimping the edges. Roll the remaining dough (you will have more than you need) into a ball, rewrap with the plastic cling film and place it back in the refrigerator.
6. In a small bowl, whisk together 3 eggs, the heavy cream, and milk.
7. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
8. Distribute the cooked red cabbage mixture into the tart shell. Use a slotted spoon as there still may be some residual liquid at the bottom of the pan.
   
9. Sprinkle the shredded gouda cheese on top of the cabbage
10. Add walnuts if you like.
11. Evenly pour the egg, cream, milk mixture over the top.
12. Distribute the pear slices over the tart.
    
13. Transfer the tart to the prepared baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 40 minutes.
14. Roll out the rest of the dough and use a cutter to create a few heart shapes.
15. Beat the remaining egg and brush the heart shapes with the egg. Sprinkle kosher salt over the top of the dough hearts.
16. Remove the tart from the oven and place the dough hearts over the top to the tart.
17. Return the tart to the oven and bake for another 20 minutes.
18. Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes before de-panning, slicing and serving

Looking for more savory Valentine’s Day recipes? Try these:

Red Cabbage & Potato Flammkuchen / Beet Apple Soup with Toasted Walnut Pesto Hearts

Heart shaped Beet Chips with Garlic Parsley Dip