Savory Butternut Squash and Potato Tart with Bacon and Herb Cream Sauce

First things first: it?s been a while. Too long. Between celebratory festivities and an enormous project at work, I?ve been slammed. Unfortunately, that has resulted in less time for the full-on cooking and documenting of said full-onness. I promise I?ll try to do better, but I make no promises. And now on to our irregularly scheduled blog post.

Fall is officially upon us here in Nashville. After more than two weeks of torrential downpours, autumn has exploded. Cooler days, crisp nights and all the amazing fall produce that goes along with it. To celebrate, I came up with this tart combining an awesome butternut squash we received from the CSA with potatoes, bacon, cheese and an herb cream sauce full of sweet-savory goodness. It totally hit the spot and made me super excited to take advantage of the pumpkin, spaghetti squash, acorn squash and additional butternut squash we received from the CSA today! Keep reading for the recipe and more pictures!

Savory Butternut Squash and Potato Tart with Bacon and Herb Cream Sauce

4 strips of bacon

1 shallot, chopped

2/3 cup half & half

1 tbsp. chopped fresh purple basil

1/2 tsp. chopped fresh sage

3 sprigs fresh thyme

1 medium butternut squash, peeled and seeded

2 medium potatoes

1/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese

Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper

2 store-bought 9-inch pie crusts, thawed

Preheat Oven to 375º F.

Cook bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crispy (hooray new cast-iron! thanks mama and daddy smith!); remove to paper towels to drain and cool. Once cooled, crumble the bacon. Add shallots to pan and sauté in bacon grease for 3 minutes.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine half & half, shallots (drain the grease first), basil, sage, thyme and a pinch of salt & pepper and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Slice potatoes and squash into rounds roughly 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. My fancy new mandoline came in very handy here (Thanks mom & dad!).

Remove dough from pans and combine into a ball. Sprinkle flour over the work surface and roll out dough into a circle 1/4 inch thick. Leaving a 2 inch border, alternate potatoes and squash arranging into a ring. Fill the center of the ring with the remainder of the potatoes and squash.

Cover the potatoes and squash with the bacon and cheese, then sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper.

Fold the crust edges up over the filling, making sure it seals all the way around. Remove thyme sprigs from cream and discard. Pour cream and herb mixture over center of torte and bake for 50?60 minutes, until potatoes in the center are fork tender. If crust starts to brown too much, cover with aluminum foil. Let cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

To boost the flavor, sprinkle with a little more fresh chopped purple basil before eating ? it?s outstanding!

I?ve gotta say, I think this is one of the best things Megan and I have made in quite some time and it will certainly be made again. Just look at that golden flaky deliciousness! And many thanks to Lacey at Crema for the huge amount of purple basil. This wouldn?t have been nearly as tasty without it!