It’s time for our monthly Cooking Club Challenge round up. April’s recipe challenge was Anna Olson’s Roasted Garlic Vegetable Tart from her new show Fresh.. The verdict was mixed on this one. Some of you liked it, others not so much. I was also on the fence on this one, although it did help me get over my fear of phyllo pastry. If haven't already, check out Part I of April CCC results posted mid-month.

From Katherine liked the overall flavours and made these pretty small tarts:
I made half the oil so I wouldn't have too much left and used the garlic in the final recipe but might just go with store bought garlic oil in the future. I added mushrooms, leeks (yummy!) and asparagus into the mix as well. Instead of lemon I used lime which I really enjoyed. The fennel added a nice crunch to the tarts I thought; I made sure that the pieces were small to roast a little better. I also made smaller tarts rather than one larger one - I layered the phyllo and then cut it into squares that would fit the tart pans. My one complaint would have to be that the veggie mix does not "bind" together, so it all sort of falls apart at when you try to eat it. However, it did re-heat well (I'm not a fan of cold soggy phyllo).  I'm thinking that these would be great done even smaller as little appetizer finger foods as well!

From Elaine who added leftover chicken for great results:
For this month I thought I'd turn it into a whole meal with some left over roasted lemon and sage chicken I had (which was perfect for this recipe). I omitted the fennel and used some marinated red pepper I had hanging in the fridge and I also did a mix of blue cheese and goat cheese instead of feta cause that is just what I had and figured the blue cheese with the chicken would be delectable and indeed it was!!! I used a round tart pan as I did not have a rectangle one but it turned out beautiful and also very scrumptious. I loved the lemon zest with the buttery squash and crunchy phyllo! Definitely a recipe I will add to my repertoire as it’s very versatile and great for a fridge clean-up!
 
From Jess who made it for her a pot luck for her Tolkien class along with cute hobbit cupcakes:
We had to bring food which appears in The Lord of the Rings. Since the hobbits eat roots, among many other things, I thought this would be a great dish to bring. I cut back on the amount of squash and added beets and turnips, which I think made it even more colourful. Unfortunately the phyllo pastry didn't get crispy. Maybe because I baked it the night before and it sat for a while before eating it, or I may have used too much garlic oil.  In the end I could have done without the phyllo.  I ended up taking the leftovers home, eating the veggies without the phyllo which was very tasty.

From Karen who said the recipe resulted in a delicious tart:
I roasted red peppers, butternut squash, garlic, red onions, then I cooked some white mushrooms, porcini and spinach. I squeezed the spinach dry then mixed all the vegetables together. I also roasted a beet and sliced it for the top. I used several phyllo sheets brushed with oil for the 'crust'. I baked the tart for 40 minutes. I also added a bit of smoked paprika, and skipped the feta cheese.  

From Nicole who said the tart was a big miss with her family:
I have never worked with squash before so I was a little apprehensive setting out.  I made a couple modifications: I had some commercial garlic oil in my pantry so I skipped the first step in the recipe and none of the grocers carry fennel so I omitted that.  Cutting the squash up was a lesson in frustration. Are they supposed to be this hard or is my knife that bad? At least the assembly was easy.  I didn't have a rectangular pan so I used my round one instead and folded the excess phyllo over the top.  Gave it a rather rustic look, I think.  Surprisingly, the kids liked the squash but no one cared for the peppers in this dish.  It reminded us of bad airline

From Candice who didn’t enjoy this month’s recipe:
My husband and I both liked the overall flavours of the dish but found it just didn't work as a tart.  Unfortunately, the filling all fell out as soon as we tried to serve it.  If I made it again, I think I'd try a different crust, or make individual phyllo bundles instead.  I'd also substitute half the fennel with some other vegetable: sweet onion, asparagus, or whatever else might be in season when I make it again.

From Sandra who was inspired by the other submissions and everyone’s helpful suggestions:
While the squash was baking, I did a quick individual sauté of the fennel slices and then the red pepper in a bit of the garlic oil, let them cool and then added to the cooled squash. The fennel still had some crisp after baking which was good, but I thought the sautéing brought out more of its sweetness. I didn't have any sage so used dried oregano and chopped fennel fronds, as others had, along with the kosher salt and freshly ground pepper seasoning. Once I get some fresh sage growing in my garden, would certainly use that with maybe even frying some sage leaves. I also squeezed some lemon juice into the mixture with the grated peel to add a bit more zing to the vegetables. I didn't have a rectangle tart pan so used an oval baking dish, layering 8 sheets of phyllo unfolded and just trimmed off some excess and made a folded edge with the remainder.  Loved the crispy edge, but next time will try making the tart in one of my round tart tins or in muffin cups to get a crisper bottom crust.  I would also try adding some feta to the veggie mixture as well as crumbling it on top to add more flavour.  First time working with butternut squash, I liked it but would like to try the tart with sweet potato next time or add some rinsed canned chickpeas to the mixture if using the squash.  Overall, glad I tried this challenge and am looking forward to trying the tart cold tonight as a few of you have said you prefer it that way.  Thanks again to everyone for all your comments!

From Kathy who didn’t let a broken stove stop her from participating:
My stove had a melt-down and so I was left with the option of the BBQ. I substituted eggplant for the squash and I added some red onion as we are big onion lovers, plus I simply roasted the garlic without the oil, and when it was done, I put it in my mortar and pestle along with about 4 tbsp of canola oil to brush on the phyllo, as well as the veggies. I used a whole head of garlic in the recipe. (You will love this if you are a garlic lover).It turned out really great. The texture was creamy from the eggplant but the pepper still had a little crunch. Over-all, I would say that this one is a keeper.

Part I of April CCC results

Part III of April CCC results