This easy recipe makes a low-fat crispy phyllo crust topped with thinly sliced beets, fresh crumbled feta, thyme and walnuts.
I made no resolutions for the New Year, but I did return to keeping a food diary to raise my consciousness about daily nutrition after a long lapse. I use myfitnesspal to track daily protein, fat and carbohydrates. When I actively monitor the foods I eat and cook, I tend to make better choices.
I love making savory galettes and pastries, but doughs for them are full of fat. Last week, I made a mushroom and leek tart using phyllo dough to boost protein relative to fat. Using commercially available phyllo sheets instead of frozen puff pastry or refrigerated pie dough results in a light, crispy and flavorful crust.
| Dough | Calories | Fat | Carbs | Protein |
| Phyllo (10 sheets) | 400 | 3 | 80 | 10 |
| Puff pastry (whole sheet) | 951 | 59 | 94 | 18 |
| Pie dough | 833 | 50 | 100 | 4 |
After the success with the mushrooms and leeks, I tried the phyllo tart approach with beets when planning an appetizer to pair with champagne for a multiple-course wine tasting dinner with friends in our home. Samantha at Little Farro Kitchen gave me great ideas for the following recipe. I conducted a limited search for red and golden beets to add more pop in color on the tart, but settled for available red. I added walnuts to the recipe for more flavor and an egg wash for crisp and golden edges.
Beet, Feta, and Walnut Tart
Ingredients:
- 10 sheets phyllo dough
- 10 sprays of canned olive oil
- 30 g bread crumbs
- 500 g beets, multi-colored and peeled
- 1 T extra virgin olive oil
- 1 t red wine vinegar
- 1/4 t kosher salt
- 1/4 t ground black pepper
- 2 t fresh or dry thyme
- 120 grams crumbled fresh feta cheese
- 40 g crumbled raw walnuts
- 1 egg + 2 T cold water
Directions:
- Thaw frozen phyllo pastry dough according to package instructions.
- Set rack in the middle of an oven preheated to 350 degrees.
- Use a sturdy mandoline to slice all beets to ~3/8′ thickness. Beets are hard root vegetables. I recommend that you set up your mandoline in front of you so that you push the beet away from you and toward the blade for the best leverage. Don’t worry about ragged edges.
- Whisk olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and thyme in a large bowl. Toss the sliced beats in the dressing to coat and set aside.
- Lightly spray olive oil on a large piece of parchment paper that will easily fit within a 13 x 17″ rimmed baking sheet on the counter.
- Gently place one sheet of phyllo on the parchment paper, lightly spray the surface of the sheet with olive oil, and dust the surface with bread crumbs.
- Repeat previous step 9 times.
- Use your hands to place beets in a single layer on the dough surface leaving at least a one-inch border of dough around the edges of the stacked sheets. Evenly distribute feta cheese and walnuts within the same borders.
- Gently fold and press the edges of the phyllo sheets toward the center. Transfer the tart and parchment paper to the rimmed baking sheet. Whisk an egg with 2 tablespoons of cold water. Brush the folded pastry with the egg wash. Bake for 30 minutes. If you have a convection option on your oven, switch set your oven temperature to 375F on that option during the last 8-10 minutes of baking to ensure crisp edges on your phyllo.
- Remove the tart from the oven and allow to rest for a few minutes before transferring to a cutting board to slice and serve.
Nutrition: 142 Calories | 7 g Fat | 18 g Carbs | 3 g Protein
Place at the Table 