Savory sweet potato tart

After making the duck last week, we had some duck fat left over.  I wanted to see if I could turn it into a pie crust for a savory dish.

It worked!  I substituted duck fat for half the butter in the pastry crust, and it turned out beautifully. Then I made it into a savory sweet potato tart to have as a starter course with boeuf bourguignon tonight (post to come on that one).  Because really, what better to do than make dinner for seven people five days before Thanksgiving?

I loosely based the tart I made on this recipe, published by Mark Bittman for the Minimalist column in the New York Times in November 2008.

• 1.5 lb sweet potatoes (about 2 or 3 medium)
• 1 TB olive oil
• 0.5 an onion, diced
• 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 0.5 tsp dried thyme
• 0.25 tsp red pepper flakes
• Salt & pepper
• 1/2 recipe pie crust

Roast the sweet potatoes in their skins until soft, about 45 minutes to an hour at 350F.  Peel and chop into approximately 0.5 inch chunks.

Heat the oil over medium heat in a saute pan – sweat diced onion and garlic until softened and golden but not brown.  Add sweet potato pieces, thyme, red pepper flakes, and salt & pepper – stir to combine.  Remove from heat and mash the sweet potatoes up a bit.  Set aside.

Butter a tart pan or pie plate – roll out the pie crust so that there will be about 1/2 inch of overhang.  Add the sweet potato/onion mixture to the tart shell, and roll the edges of the pastry over to form an edge.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes at 350F, or until the tart shell is nicely browned.

See?  Pretty.  And tasty.  Win!