Method

You will need  a 28 cm loose bottomed tart tin.

Preheat the oven to 200°c/400°F/Gas Mark 6

To make the pastry; In a small bowl mix 3tbs of ground linseed with 6tbsps of water. Set aside.

In a large bowl add the flour,salt and add the plant-based butter cut into small cubes. Rub the flour and fat together with your fingertips until you have a crumb consistency, then add the ground almonds and rub in again. Next add the linseed mixture and 3 tbsp of water and mix/bring together with a spoon. Using your hands form a ball with the dough, the dough will be sticky.  Cover the bowl and set aside for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile add 1 tbsp of oil to a pan and sauté the finely chopped onion and garlic until soft and translucent, season with salt and add the chopped herbs. Set aside

Wash and cut the asparagus. Remove the ends (the woody part of the stem) and then cut into bite size pieces, approximately each stem into sixths. Season with salt and steam for 3 minutes, remove from the heat and quickly plunge the asparagus  into ice-cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain, add the peas and set aside.

Roll out the pastry on floured baking paper, flour the rolling pin and the top of the dough before you begin. Turn the baking paper clockwise in between rolling the dough to help form a circle. Roll out to 3-4mm thick. The pastry is very delicate to work with and can break easily.

Using the rolling pin gently roll the pastry up together with baking paper. Then using the end that was last rolled, turn upside down and whilst pulling the paper away unroll the dough whilst placing the dough over the tart case. It has to be done quite quickly and carefully as the pastry can tear when it touches the top of the tart case, it can be patched up with extra pastry.

Set aside any leftover pastry.

Prick the base of the pastry case with a fork  and put on to a baking tray. Bake blind for 10 minutes (using baking paper and baking beans,rice lentils etc) this helps prevent the pastry from shrinking down from the sides of the tin. Bake on the top middle shelf. After 10 minutes  remove the baking paper and ‘weights’ and bake for a further 15-20 minutes until crisp and pale golden in colour. Check the pastry case with about 10 minutes left of baking, if there are any cracks you can patch them up with the left-over dough and place back in the oven for the remainder of the time.

To make the filling: Bring the potato milk up to the boil, then pour straight into a blender, add the chickpea flour, cornflour, silken tofu, melted plant based butter and mustard and mix until well blended. The mixture will thicken. Transfer back to a pan and slowly bring up to the boil, adding the grated cheese. Stir constantly. The mixture with become thick and ‘creamy’. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the onions, garlic, herbs, asparagus and peas. Mix well, check seasoning again, adding more salt and pepper if needed.

Pour the filling into the pastry case and top with extra grated vegan cheese.

Pop into the oven, top middle shelf for approximately  25 minutes. The tart should be golden in colour and the sides will feel firm to the touch. Leave to cool on a wire rack before removing from the tin. Can be served at room temperature but best served warm.

Can be eaten the following day, cover and store in the fridge.

Packed full of gorgeous spring greens our tasty asparagus and pea tart makes a wonderfully perfect teatime treat for the whole family or a mouthwatering addition to a picnic.