40 Maltby Street's Lancashire Tart Recipe

The Lancashire Tart is an iconic menu item from 40 Maltby Street, and here we are privileged to present you with the recipe.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients
Pastry
400g plain flour
100g medium oatmeal
250g Berkeley Farm butter, cut into small pieces
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 Cacklebean egg

Filling
8 medium onions
100g Berkeley farm butter
450ml double cream
7 large Cacklebean egg yolks
Salt
Pepper
A few rasps of Nutmeg
200g Kirkham’s Lancashire

Method
Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the butter and work it into the flour mixture with your fingers until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Weigh your egg and add enough cold water to make 160g in total. Add this to the flour mixture and combine until a homogeneous paste.

Split this into two equal halves, you’ll only need half for this recipe. Wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 2 weeks. The pastry freezes very well.

After letting the pastry rest, roll it out on a floured surface into a circle until it is about the thickness of a one-pound coin.

Preheat the oven to 175•C. Butter and flour a 28-30cm wide, 1 inch deep tart case. Gently fit the pastry into the case, making sure to push it into the corners. Leave the pastry overhanging the lip of the case. Line your pastry shell with parchment paper or clingfilm and fill with baking beans or something equivalent and place in the oven.

After 25 minutes check on the tart. If one side is browning too much rotate it. Have a look under the baking beans—when the pastry looks matte and not greasy, remove the baking beans and liner and return to the oven. Cook for a further 5-10 minutes until lightly browned and fully cooked.

Peel and finely slice the onions. Melt the butter in a pan on a medium heat and add the sliced onions. Generously salt them and cook gently, stirring occasionally, until they are soft, yielding and straw coloured. Allow to cool.

Preheat the oven to 165•C. Mix together 400g of the onions and all the ingredients except the cheese. Check the seasoning. Fill the cooked tart shell with this mixture and liberally grate the cheese over the top.

Cook for 30-40 minutes, rotating if needed, or until the tart is set but with a wobble in the centre.

Allow to cool and trim the overhanging pastry if needed with a serrated knife. Serve with a salad and another healthy grating of Lancashire.

Source: 40 Maltby Street