Make a Lovely Savory Tart with Leftovers

There is real joy in using bits and pieces foraged from the fridge to create something new. Whether you find some mashed potatoes from last night's dinner, a surplus of prepped onions that you didn't end up needing, or the last olives in a jar—whatever it may be, making a delicious new home for them can be a great tool in helping reduce food waste. If nothing else, it gives otherwise inconsequential tidbits value when considered in light of new potential. Never again will you wonder if you should (A) eat those last few bites of corn (B) put them in the refrigerator, or (C) eh, just toss them.

I usually employ random bits of leftovers in the making of veggie burgers, soups, and vegetable-based stews. Sometimes, they find their way into pasta, or atop toast, or in salad or grain bowls. Worst-case scenario, they get simmered with water for stock that I will freeze for later.

One year, I took Thanksgiving's leftover vegetables and threw them in a rustic quiche, which brings me to now. Lately, I seem to have random balls of pastry dough in the freezer, which have come in handy for making single-meal-sized galettes when layered with whatever is in the fridge and in need of consuming.

(I have also been known to employ unused sheets of puff pastry in the same application. And honestly, one can put just about anything in puff pastry, and it will turn out delicious, because: puff pastry.)

The Leftovers Tart

And as it turns out, I am in good company with this approach. Pastry chef Natasha Pickowicz is known for making savory tarts with leftover prep ingredients for restaurant staff meals. Taking bits of this and that and layering it all in a nest of pâte brisée, the resulting creations are spontaneous but deliberate, notes Tajal Rao, who wrote about the approach for The New York Times a while back. “I’m always thinking critically about how they’ll cook,” Pickowicz tells Rao. “I’m thinking about creating layers, so when you bite into it, you’re transitioning from tender dough through body and structure.”

Pickowicz's method goes something like this, according to Rao:

Start with a cold pâte brisée, then go from there: Spread a fine layer of cheese such as ricotta or mascarpone, then season it with lemon zest, salt and pepper. Now move onto a denser layer of cooked vegetables, such as cauliflower, potato, leek or squash, lightly seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper. Fill the gaps in the vegetables with pieces of cheese. When the tart comes out of the oven, consider a topping of herbs, lightly dressed salad leaves or even a couple of fried eggs.

Bits-and-Parts Tart Tips

Those are excellent guidelines, but the sky's the limit. Here are some of my tips:

• Use your favorite savory pastry dough. As mentioned above, I seem to find random bits of dough in my freezer because I refuse to throw away scraps—and little scraps of dough become balls which become tarts.
  
• Vegans can start with a layer of smashed beans, pureed vegetables, or mashed potatoes instead of cheese. The idea is to have a solid-ish base.
• If you have a bunch of small things—for example, herbs, olives, corn kernels, nuts, etc.—chop them coarsely into a crumble and add it as a layer.
• If you have anything crunchy, like leftover tortilla chips, croutons, or stale bread, use it for the top layer.
• For anything especially watery—like raw leafy greens, summer squash, tomatoes, etc.—consider salting/draining or quickly pre-cooking so that the tart doesn't get soggy.
  
• Don't forget grains! While grains in a tart may seem counterintuitive, whole grains like quinoa or barley are nutrient power hitters and can add some extra bulk to the meal.

Eating Leftovers is Climate Action!

Using up small portions of leftovers may not seem like such a big deal, but it adds up. Food waste is a tremendous climate problem. As Treehugger reported earlier:

"The U.S. alone wastes 133 billion pounds of food every year. That's $161 billion worth, or 31% of the entire food supply and a quarter of all municipal solid waste ... Thirty-one percent of food wasted means 31% of the energy, water, and materials used to grow, harvest, package, distribute, and store it is also used in vain. The result is the weight equivalent of 5.5 million school buses worth of discarded nourishment, left to fester in landfills where it will emit catastrophic amounts of greenhouse gases."

Which is reason enough to embrace the leftovers tart! But with the additional bonus of a money-saving and delicious meal wrapped in pastry dough, leftovers never seemed more desirable.