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This garlic scape tart has a pillowy, lemon- and thyme-scented ricotta filling and a bold yet delicate teff crust. Adaptable, make-ahead friendly recipe.
Why we love this recipe
This garlic scape tart occupies a happy medium between raw and aggressively cooked scapes. The sliced scapes are baked gently in a custard of fresh ricotta and eggs, mellowing their intensity without obliterating their freshness. Combined with the lemon thyme, the scapes produce a positively aromatic filling that floats on top of the hearty crust.
I first published this recipe here way back in 2011. I’ve updated the post for clarity, but the recipe remains the same.
What you’ll need
Here’s a glance at the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe.
For the crust
This is a standard savory pastry crust, but with half the flour replaced by hearty, nutritious teff flour. If you don’t have teff or don’t want to use it, you can use all-purpose flour for the whole thing.
- Teff is a gluten-free ancient grain that originated in North Africa. You may know it as the primary ingredient in the fermented Ethiopian and Eritrean flatbread injera. It grows well in challenging climates, so it’s been increasingly popular worldwide as climate change complicates agriculture. It has a strong, earthy flavor profile.
- Use a really good-quality butter if you can. Here and virtually everywhere, I start with a cultured butter from grass-fed cows. This sounds fancy but doesn’t have to be. Kerrygold, for example, is sold in most supermarkets at a reasonable price. Make sure the butter is cold.
For the filling
This simple tart filling couldn’t be easier to put together while your crust blind-bakes.
- Garlic scapes are the shoots that grow out of the ground from hard-neck varieties of garlic. You can find them at farmers’ markets and in your CSA box early in the growing season (and sometimes after a second planting). For this recipe, you can slice up the whole thing, including the stem, bulb, and wispy top.
- I like to use full-fat ricotta for a pillowy texture.
- If you have access to lemon thyme, use that. If not, it’s 100% fine to swap in regular time plus lemon zest.
How to make it
Here’s what you’ll do to make a great garlic scape tart with teff crust. You can see the steps in action in the video that accompanies this post, and get all the details in the recipe card below.
- To make the crust, blitz the ingredients together in a food processor, or pinch the butter into the dry ingredients with your fingertips. Then add just enough water to allow the dough to hold together. Shape into a disc and let it chill.
- Roll out the dough and ease it into a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom.
- While the shell bakes, mix the easy filling.
- Pour the filling into the shell and bake until set. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Expert tips and FAQs
Almost always. The teff crust is great, but if you can’t find teff flour or simply prefer a milder flavor, you can make the crust entirely with all-purpose flour.
The ricotta filling is also perfectly happy to have you swap in different vegetables or other fillings. Try sautéed mushrooms, spinach, asparagus, or zucchini, diced ham, cooked crumbled bacon or sausage, or a combination.
Yes This tart is great at room temperature, so it’s an easy make-ahead candidate. Prepare and bake it anytime on the day you plan to serve it. Once cool, leave it loosely covered at cool room temperature until ready to serve.
You can keep leftovers at room temperature for up to about 24 hours. After that, keep them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to about three days. They’re good cold or reheated in the oven or toaster oven.
More favorite garlic scape recipes
- To flavor our super-popular hummus
- In a savory frittata
- In a luscious pasta
- To make a simple, fabulous compound butter
- And of course, in pesto
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Garlic Scape Tart with Teff Crust
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 1 cup (120 grams) teff flour
- 1 cup (120 grams) all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 12 tablespoons (168 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice
- 4 to 5 tablespoons 60-(75 ml) ice water
For the Filling
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup (250 grams) good-quality fresh ricotta cheese
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon thyme leaves
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup thinly sliced garlic scapes, from about 20 scapes
Instructions
- Place the flours and the salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment and pulse to combine.
- Add the butter and pulse until the largest pieces are the size of small peas.
- Sprinkle four tablespoons of the ice water onto the dough. Pulse until the dough begins to hold together. Add the additional tablespoon of water and continue to pulse if the dough is otherwise too dry to hold together.
- Turn the dough out onto a piece of waxed paper and shape into a disc by pressing quickly and firmly with your hands, repairing any cracks as you go. Wrap the dough in the waxed paper and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F with a rack in the center.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a 12-inch-diameter circle about 1/4-inch thick.
- Press into the bottom and sides of a fluted 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Roll your rolling pin over the top of the pan to remove any excess dough.
- Prick the bottom of the dough all over with a fork, then line the dough with parchment paper and fill with dried beans.
- Place the tart pan on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove the parchment and beans and bake for 7 minutes more.
- While the dough bakes, make the filling. Beat the eggs in a medium mixing bowl. Add the ricotta, lemon thyme, salt, and pepper and beat until well combined. Stir in the sliced scapes.
- Pour the filling into the partially baked tart shell and return the whole thing to the oven for about 25 minutes, until the filling is set.
- Cool to warm or room temperature before slicing and serving.
Notes
- Instead of lemon thyme, you can use 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves plus the grated zest of one lemon.
- You can make this recipe earlier in the day and serve at room temperature. Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for three to four days. Serve cold or reheat in the oven or toaster oven before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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