A savoury French pumpkin tart recipe for a special vegetarian option for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Packed with roasted pumpkin (or purée), mushrooms, leeks and sage, it's extra delicious with a rustic chestnut flour pastry base. Can't find chestnut flour? Then see my substitutes below. For non-vegetarians add some leftover turkey or bacon.
Love this recipe! One of the few reasons why I don't mind summer ending just for this tart. - Lucie
Savoury Pumpkin Tart
Every time Autumn arrives, the girls always ask for this tart. If entertaining for a dinner party and we're trying to be chic, this also works well as mini pumpkin tartlets as a starter or appetizer.
Why do we love it at this time of year? Because the combination of chestnut flour with pumpkin, mushrooms with some leek and sage is simply divine. Trust me, it's totally worth the effort to make the pastry. Somehow the lush, smooth taste of the chestnut flour pastry base fools us into thinking that there's bacon or chicken in it. Yet it's vegetarian.
A Vegetarian Alternative for Christmas or Thanksgiving
Pumpkin and mushroom tarts are perfect as a vegetarian no-turkey alternative for Thanksgiving or Christmas - or just a family treat to fall for!
It's also a versatile recipe: often I throw in the mushrooms and leek, topping it with some walnuts. For non-vegetarians, if you want to add leftover turkey, it's perfect together too.
What's the Best Pumpkin to Use for Pumpkin Tart?
French potimarron is best for this tart. It's so popular in France, perhaps even more so than regular pumpkin (potiron), sold by the slice at our local markets. Known more widely as Chestnut Pumpkin, Red kuri squash or red Hokkaido, it's less watery than regular pumpkin or butternut and it even tastes of chestnut. Hence the part, 'marron' in the French name, which means chestnut. There's no need to peel off the skin, either, as its pumpkin skin edible.
If you can't find potimarron, use regular pumpkin, butternut squash - or even your favourite canned pumpkin purée.
As pumpkins generally give off more liquid, I would recommend blind-baking the pastry first for an extra 10 minutes, covered in parchment and baking beans.
For more, see the market page on squash and pumpkins
Homemade Tart Pastry with Chestnut Flour
Chestnut flour is easily available in health food stores and in the organic healthy sections of most supermarkets in France. If you haven't tried it yet, I urge you to do so. It's one of the staple ingredients in Corsican cooking and popular in France. It's also so powerful and rustic in flavour - that's why I mix it with plain (all-purpose) flour.
Please don't be put off by making the pastry. This pastry is a pleasure to work with if you follow this recipe to the letter, using measurements in grams or ounces with a digital kitchen scale (find out why measuring by weight rather than volume by cups makes baking life easier). It's totally worth it.
Best Substitutes for Chestnut Flour
If you can't find chestnut flour, it's a shame as it really has a particular flavour to it that cannot be substituted in terms of flavour. However, as we're mixing it with regular all-purpose flour, adding any of these substitute will still give it that rustic flavour.
The best substitutes for chestnut flour in this savoury pumpkin tart, is either wholemeal, hazelnut or buckwheat flour.
How to Make A Savoury Pumpkin Tart
Makes one large tart (28cm/11inch diameter) or 8 individual mini tartlets.
If using kuri squash or pumpkin, first soften it by placing in the oven for 15 minutes. Meanwhile prepare the tart dough using butter that has softened. While the dough chills in the fridge, chop up the pumpkin and soften in a dish along with some olive oil and sage. The rest is all in the printable recipe card below.
For this pumpkin tart, nuts go so well with pumpkin and are a delicious addition thrown on top before baking in the oven.
Alternatively, if you don't like mushrooms, add walnuts or pecans for that extra seasonal crunch! Add a few pre-cooked chestnuts to add that extra chestnut flavour, so popular in French supermarkets, sold as either vaccum-packed or in jars.
See more on the French market pages for chestnuts.
What Wine to Match with Savoury Pumpkin Tart?
The flavours of chestnut, pumpkin & mushroom in a tart or as mini tartlets match well with a light and fruity red wine.
In Autumn, France goes mad over the basic Beaujolais and Beaujolais Nouveau the 3rd Thursday in November (that's how I met my Frenchman, but that's another story!). As our student days are over, we prefer the more sophisticated medium bodied Beaujolais Crus (e.g. Morgon, Brouilly, Julienas) - excellent value for money, in my humble opinion, compared with their expensive neighbours up the road in Bourgogne.
A light Loire red is also a great match with the tart - such as Chinon or Saumur reds.
Savoury Pumpkin Tart with Mushrooms and Chestnut Flour
Equipment
- 28cm/11-inch tart tin (or 8 individual tartlet tins)
Ingredients
Chestnut Flour Tart Base:
- 100 g (3.5oz/ 1 cup) chestnut flour sifted (see substitutes below)
- 150 g (5.5oz/ 1¼ cups) plain flour (all-purpose T55)
- 125 g (4.5oz/ ½ cup) unsalted butter softened
- ½ teaspoon salt (fleur de sel)
- 4-5 tablespoon water
Pumpkin Tart Filling:
- 300 g (11oz/ 2½ cups) raw pumpkin roughly chopped into small chunks (See NOTES)
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 leek, white part sliced finely
- 300 g (11oz/ 4 cups) mushrooms (Parisian mushrooms, cremini) cut into big pieces
- 1 teaspoon sage leaves finely chopped
- 3 large eggs organic
- 250 g (9oz/ 1 cup) crème fraîche/heavy cream or half fat cream (I use 15% fat)
- good pinch ground nutmeg
- good pinch salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoon freshly grated parmesan* (not the packaged grated stuff)
Instructions
For the chestnut flour pastry base:
- Mix all the ingredients together in a stand mixer or food processor and mix just until the dough forms a ball. Wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 mins. Remove the dough from the fridge and leave to stand about 10 minutes, to make it easy to roll it out.
- Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface. Then, roll the pastry around the rolling pin to transfer it to a 28cm/11 inch tart tin.
- Press the pastry well into the sides. Roll over the top of the tin to clean up any rough edges. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes (this is important so the sides won't fall during baking later).
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F (180°C fan/Gas 6).
- If making a large tart, blind bake for 15 minutes covered in parchment and baking beans or rice. No need for tartlets.
For the filling:
- If using a hard pumpkin like potimarron/Red Kuri squash, roast whole in the oven for 15 minutes. This will make it easier to cut into small chunks (no need to cut off the skin, it's edible). Let cool slightly to spoon out the seeds.Place the chopped pumpkin with 2 tablespoon of the olive oil and chopped sage in a roasting tin. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes.(No need to do this if using purée - see NOTES.)
- Meanwhile, over medium heat, dry fry the mushrooms: there's no need to add any oil. Wait until the mushrooms give off their liquid then transfer to a plate. Set aside to cool slightly. In the same pan, add the remaining olive oil and gently fry the sliced leek until translucent but not brown.
- In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, crème fraîche, nutmeg, grated cheese and season to taste.
- Sprinkle the roasted pumpkin and sage over the tart base, top with the leek and mushrooms and pour over the creamy egg mix. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes.
Notes
This post was originally published 18th November 2015 but the text is now completely updated with more recipe details and an approximate guide in cups.
Emma
Hadn’t realised how sweet chestnut flour is! The pastry is too sweet for a savoury dish in my opinion. Could perhaps work well in mincemeat tarts?
Jill Colonna
Hi Emma,
Yes, chestnut flour is slightly sweet but that's the charm in this savoury tart. Did you use ALL chestnut flour for the tart base? If so, this really changes the taste. Only 100g is used and a perfect balance with more plain flour (150g). That's what the Corsicans do.
Our family's best chestnut flour pairings are definitely with pumpkin, leeks and the mushrooms. Never tried it with mincemeat...but perhaps you could give it a try?
June S
Perfect for Christmas and even New Year. Special request. Dad is looking forward to having meals cooked for him.
Jill Colonna
I bet Dad is looking forward to someone else cooking- hehe tell him, me too! I'll have to make 2 large tarts 🙂
Thomasina
This tart looks so yummy for this time of year as the nights are dark very early and it would be lovely to smell it from the kitchen as I sit by the fire. Now I have bought the ingredients my husband just needs to make it.
Jill Colonna
Lucky husband with such a great ambience you've put on, Thomasina. Too funny - enjoy the tart!