Savoury Tarte Tatin

Tarte Tatin is a famous apple pie from France. 'Discovered' by the Tatin sisters, it is an upside-down ‘tarte’ that you bake in a pan or oven dish on your gas stove and then in the oven. Because it simmers for a long time, the fruit - or the vegetables in this case- will be nicely cooked, soft and a little candied.

tarte Tatin kohlrabi with pickled fennel

The savory version is a great diversion for lunch parties, picknicks and with a drink. It has sour, bitter, salty, sweet and fat, all the flavours are in it. And it helps to get to your 250 gr vegetables per day.

This recipe is with kohlrabi, but you can try the same with beets (red or yellow), fennel, turnip and so on.

With red onions and apple

Red beets and capers

Yellow beets and sage

Kohlrabi

Tomatoes and thyme

Parsnip and hierbas

Ingredients

• 2 kohlrabies

• Roll savoury shortcrust pastry. make it yourself with this recipe, or buy it readymade. If you can not find pâte brisée (short crust) buy the pâte feuilletée (puff pastry)

• 50 gr butter or vegetable oil like olives or sunflower oil

• 50 gr granulated sugar

• 2 tbsp xeres vinegar

• 1 tbsp quatre epices (black pepper, cloves, nutmeg and dried ginger) or Chinese five spice powder (cinnamon, fennel seed, star anise, peppercorn, clove.. Alternatively garam marsala (add a bit of star-anise)

• salt

• Pepper

• Fennel

• 200 ml Pickle mixture

Necessities

Crepe pan or skillet that can go in the oven.

Mandoline or cheese slicer / grate with possibility to cut thin slices.

Method

Peel the celeriac and cut into 1 cm slices on the mandolin. Heat sugar in crepe or skillet on a low heat. Once browned add butter and vinegar and the spice mix. Make a caramel and remove from fire. Place kohlrabi in a nice pattern in the pan with overlap in the layers. (The bottom will be your top). Let it simmer on low heat until tender, but still with a bite for 15-20 minutes. Let cool to lukewarm. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Cut the pastry into a ring that is 2 cm larger than the wide part of the pan. Place pastry on the kohlrabi. Push the edge a bit along sides into the kohlrabi (for a crust around it). Poke holes in the dough with a fork to prevent puffing. Place in oven until pastry is nicely browned and crispy. Remove from oven, let cool. Turn over onto cutting board.

Slice the fennel into very thin slices on the mandolin. Pour hot sweet/sour on top. After half an hour, decant (remove from liquid), and place on tarte Tatin.