Roasted Vegetable & Chorizo Tart

At the start of the week I sat down with the girls and went through everyone's likes and dislikes...(ice cream - yes, cauliflower - definitely not) to make sure that my weekly 'menu' would go down well with everyone, I also wanted to make good use of the market stalls while some of my favourite fruit and veg is still in season. I decided to make a simple roasted veg tart with a little chorizo for our first dinner at home, as I haven't quite braved the fish market yet and the butchers shop has so many salamis I don't even know where to start.

For this recipe you will need:

1 Medium Pumpkin or Squash (peeled and roughly chopped)
1 Courgette (sliced and halved)
1 Red Pepper (remove stalk & seeds and roughly chop)
2 Onions (white or red)
4 Cloves of Garlic (crushed with the back of a knife)
200g Chorizo (sliced and quartered)

1 Ready rolled Puff Pastry (you won't catch me on great British bake off I prefer to cheat)

Small bag of Rocket Salad
Handful of Cherry Tomatoes (halved)
Handful of shaved Parmesan
Salt, Pepper, Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinegar to taste

I roast the vegetables, chorizo and garlic with a glug of olive oil, pinch of salt and pepper for about 20-30 minutes on 200C or until the pumpkin or squash is softening. Then simply transfer the veg onto the rolled out pastry and bake on a tray for a further 20 minutes on 150C until the pastry around the edges are golden brown. You want to roast the veg first to reduce the water content especially in the courgettes as they will make the pastry soggy in the middle if you don't. God forbid your tart should end up with a soggy bottom!

I dress my rocket salad and cherry tomatoes with a 2 parts olive oil to one part balsamic with a pinch or salt and pepper to taste and then serve on top of the tart with the parmesan sprinkled over the top. It can easily be made into a vegetarian meal by taking away the chorizo or for a slightly cheaper alternative you can fry off some bacon lardons and use them instead.

In other news, we visited St. Marks Basilica and the Campanile this morning, we got there early to avoid the queues and managed to not be persuaded to stop for a coffee by the well dressed waiters in  St. Marks square. We got up the tower while it was sunny and the view was amazing - it is 8 euros, but you have to do it once. We also timed our visit to the Basilica well as we got to see the mosaics that decorate the walls lit up which only happens between 11:30am-12:30pm and the lights really add an extra dimension to the gold tiles. The museum up on the terrace is also well worth a visit, with lots of interesting tapestries to look at.

Do avoid being tempted into eating in the St. Marks area, the waiters are keen salesmen and will try any tactic to persuade you to choose their place. While walking past one restaurant earlier, a waiter told me he had pizza, pasta and fish - looked me up and down and said "or big fish"...because I clearly look like a girl with a large appetite!

                                                  The 4 of us at the top of the Campanile