Smoked salmon and creme fraiche breakfast tart

Words by Lauren Matthews of The Kitchen Collective.

It’s Mother’s Day this Sunday. You have potentially already stashed away an assortment of goodies to spoil your mother dearest. Or (if you’re anything like me) you potentially haven’t. No need to fret – I’ve come up with a simple brunch recipe you can whip up and serve to her in bed, in less time it will take you to wrap a present, that quite frankly, she would most likely re-gift anyway.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 sheet of puff pastry
• 4 eggs
• 2 T crème fraiche
• 6 strips of smoked salmon
• chives to garnish
• lemon to serve

RECIPE

1. Preheat oven and well-greased baking tray to 200 C. Preheating the tray will ensure the bottom of the pastry will cook in the same time as the top.

2. Thaw pastry in instructions with the packet. Lightly dust the bench and roll pastry into a uniform rectangle. Prick with a fork all over but ensure to leave a 1cm border.

3. Crack an egg into a bowl and add a drop of warm water. Whisk, and using a pastry brush (if you don’t have one of those, fingers will suffice) and coat the border lightly.

4. Spread crème fraiche over the pastry, being careful to leave the border uncovered. Layer smoked salmon evenly on top and pop in oven for 5 minutes.

5. Take tray out of oven and very carefully crack four eggs onto pastry (fresh eggs work best as they won’t run everywhere). Place back in oven for approximately 8-10 minutes. Keep an eye on it – you want the whites to be cooked, just so and the yolks to remain runny. You can tell when this happens visually by gentle shaking the tray: if the whites no longer move, they’re cooked.

6. Once eggs are perfectly cooked, and pastry has browned underneath (check this by gentle lifting edge with a fish slice) let the tart set for a few minutes before scattering a generous amount of chopped chives on top, season well with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt. Slice and serve alongside half a lemon and be prepared for a very happy mother – that’s the aim of the game, after all.