Tarte tatin is usually a sweet, upside-down tart filled with caramelised apples. This version uses roasted vegetables in a balsamic vinegar syrup. It makes a delicious lunch, served with a green salad. You may find some vegetables stick to the dish when you turn out the tart, but you can lift them off and arrange them back where they belong. You could substitute parsnips, potatoes or carrots for some or all of the pumpkin and kumara.
One medium onion, peeled and cut into segments
1kg pumpkin, peeled and thickly sliced
One medium kumara, about 400g, peeled and thickly sliced
One bulb garlic
One tablespoon olive oil
Three tablespoons brown sugar
Quarter of a cup of balsamic vinegar
Leaves from a couple of sprigs of thyme
20cm x 30cm pre-rolled puff pastry. The sheets I used were 20cm square so I stuck together a sheet and a half by moistening the edges with water.
Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees C. Place onions, pumpkin, potatoes and whole bulb of garlic on a baking tray. Drizzle with oil and season well with salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the onion and garlic. Return the remaining vegetables to the oven and bake for a further ten minutes or until tender.
Heat the vinegar and sugar gently in a small saucepan. Once the sugar has disolved increase the heat and simmer until syrupy – about five minutes. Pour the syrup into a shallow ovenproof dish 20cm x 30cm. Scatter over the thyme leaves and arrange the roasted vegetables, except the garlic, in the dish. Squeeze the pulp from the garlic skin and scatter it amongst the vegetables in the dish. Lay the pastry sheet over the vegetables, tucking in well at the sides. Increase the oven temperature to 220 degrees C and bake for 25-30 minutes until puffed and golden. Allow to cool for ten minutes before inverting onto a board or platter and cut into squares to serve.