Fred’s Grilled Vegetable Tart

I drive my daughter to school and every day I pass by one particular intersection that has four interesting and diverse corners.   On one corner is a building called FRED.  The corner across the street from Fred is Gus’ Pub and across from the pub is a shop selling Middle Eastern food.  The remaining corner is home to a Latin gourmet and specialty shop, Cafe Aroma Latino.  Hence the words interesting and diverse!  I was very intrigued by the bold lettering on what used to be a bank which now is home to FRED.  FRED combines beauty, food and art all in the one building.  The Gallery at FRED is host to local and Canadian talent who work with a broad variety of mediums including pottery, photography, and painting.   The beauty side of FRED provides the very best  hair/color, skin care, and massage services the industry has to offer.  Whet Café offers a daily menu of the freshest house made salads, panini, soups, and delectable cupcakes. The highest quality organic ingredients, customized orders, and daily menus ensure the satisfaction of your taste buds (the menu changes regularly to accommodate the produce available).   And so it was that my curious nature brought me to investigate FRED more closely.  As I was getting my hair hi-lighted at FRED salon, I was browsing Canadian House and Home June issue and saw that Fred Connor’s (that’s the owners name) home was being highlighted along with a delicious looking vegetable tart.

Serves 6

recipe from Fred Connor

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250 g plain flour

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives, parsley, basil or a mix

125 g cold diced butter 

A pinch of salt

3 to 4 tablespoons ice water

Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Add the fresh herbs and combine.  Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until it forms small pea-sized pieces. Stir in just enough ice water to make the dough. Turn on to a floured surface and press into a ball. Form into a flat rectangle, wrap in plastic and chill at least 40 minutes before using.

Artichoke Pesto:

398 ml can marinated artichoke hearts, drained

250g cream cheese

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

large handful fresh basil

zest and juice of 1 lemon

salt and pepper

shaved Parmesan

Preheat oven to 425f.  Roll dough out on a floured surface until 1/4 inch thick.  Cut into 6 squares and roll the edges to create a border.  Place on baking sheet and prick all over with a fork.  Bake 20 minutes or until golden.  Let cool.

For the pesto, combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper.  To assemble tarts, top shells with pesto, baby rocket (arugula), shaved Parmesan and a variety of grilled vegetables.