Feta Tart (Alevropita)

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup flour, sifted
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 egg
1 cup water
10 ounces feta, crumbled or cubed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and cubed

Preparation

Preheat oven to 500 F. (Open windows and turn on hood fan if your oven is prone to setting off smoke detectors when set higher than 400 degrees like mine is.)


Place large rimmed baking sheet in oven, and heat for 10 minutes. (Choose a pan you don't like much. Mine seems to have picked up a little browning that doesn't want to go away now.)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a small bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons oil, egg, and water.

Pour the wet mixture over the dry mixture, and whisk until smooth.

Remove hot pan from oven, and place on a cooling rack on the counter. Immediately brush the pan with the remaining 4 tablespoons of oil. (My pan buckled, and I worried about the oil pooling up in the corners, but as soon as I poured the batter in, the pan relaxed and the oil and batter evened out.)

Pour the batter into the pan, and spread it to the edges and smooth it with a rubber spatula. (Try to spread and smooth it as evenly as possible. See that thin edge below? It got a little too crispy and a little too brown.)

Scatter the cheese and butter over the batter.

Bake, rotating after 10 minutes, until tart is golden brown and crisp, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Let cool slightly, and then cut and serve the tart. (I slid the whole thing onto a large cutting board to make it easy to cut and avoid scratching my pan.)