This turnip tart makes a beautiful side dish for any dinner party or holiday meal. It’s a great way to bake this low carb alternative to a potato too!
Turnips can be a misunderstood vegetable when it comes to low carb. It may be grown under the ground, but it comes from the same family as brussels sprouts, kale and broccoli. It has a low calorie and high nutrient count of minerals, anti-oxidants and fibre.
This turnip recipe could also be called a turnip rose as it looks a bit like a carved vegetable. I’ve made apple rose cupcakes by simply slice the apples but thought I would try it with a turnip. Initially I was about to make a turnip gratin but was struck by a creative streak and thought about placing the slices together for this turnip tart to make it look a bit more elegant.
I made two turnip tarts with different flavours. For one I used rosemary and garlic simply because I like those flavour combinations and they do go well with turnip. The second one I coated in olive oil and zaatar. Zaatar is one of my favourite Middle Eastern spices and is a mixture of thyme, sesame seeds and sumac.
Both turnip tarts were delicious but the zaatar flavoured one received the warmest reaction from the Chief Taster. He yelled out from the kitchen after his first bite to declare that it was delicious. It’s not often a man yells out in pleasure when eating a turnip. Well done zaatar! He devoured this turnip tart in record speed and it’s now on the list for a side vegetable.
When making this dish you will need to move the turnip slices around whilst assembling it. The thinner the turnip slices, the more flexible they will be too. I found that once they were placed into the mini tart tin, I could move the slices around to get a better flower shape.
This turnip tart is best served straight from the oven for the full flower effect. Mine was fresh out of the oven and very pretty to look at. The one’s that I kept aside for the Chief Taster became a bit limp and shrivelled. Eat them in their creative glory as soon as they are baked! You could keep the raw turnip tart aside ready to bake if you are meal planning ahead though.
Feel free to play around with other seasonings when making this turnip tart. Perhaps thyme or a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese towards the end of the baking time. It really is as simple as slice, season, arrange and bake!
OTHER TURNIP RECIPES I ENJOY
Turnip Tarts
Ingredients
- 1 Turnip
- 2 tablespoons Olive oil
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Black pepper
- Seasonings of your choice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F degrees
- Peel the turnips and cut into half
- Thinly slice the turnip (as thin as you can is better)
- In a bowl add the olive oil and seasoning of choice
- Add the turnip slices, season with salt and pepper and toss until all slices are covered.
- Either using a small quiche tin or a muffin tin, place the turnip slices into the dish to arrange a rose shape. Start with the outside pieces and work your way into the middle. For the centre piece, use a very thin slice and roll into a tight roll and slices around it. Place in the centre and fashion slices around it.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden and soft.
- Towards the end of the baking time, if the edges of the turnip slices start to crisp, add a dollop of butter and bake until soft and golden.
- Remove from the oven and serve immediately
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