Squash Tart with Bacon and Gruyère

Snacking Dinner Meets Thanksgiving Hors d'Oeuvres

We’ve reached my favorite snacking time of year—party food season! A holiday party spread always makes me feel like a kid again. Make a dinner out of pigs in a blanket, mini quiches, crudités, and a cheeseboard? Yes, please! Bonus points if there’s music and mingling and champagne flutes.

So, while Thanksgiving isn’t traditionally a snack-centric holiday, I like to add a few fun hors d’oeuvre to my spread, to help set the festive mood (and give people something to nibble on while they have their first drink of the night). These dishes are also extremely useful if you’re a guest at someone else’s table, because they let you contribute to the meal/take work off your hosts’ plates without worrying about how your dish will fit in with their meal plans. (That said, I still recommend checking in with the host first; some people can be very specific about the vibe of the meal.)

This tart is a perfect addition for Thanksgiving—sweet, savory, and salty and full of warm fall flavors. It’s based on the flavors of one of my favorite soups, a chunky mix of squash, potatoes, and bacon topped with melted gruyere that my mom has been making from Debra Mayhew’s Soup Bible for decades. You can prep all of the toppings a day (or two or three) ahead of time, then just bake it up before guests arrive or before you head to your host’s house. (It’s great both hot and at room temperature, so you can slide it in under a pie early in the morning or when you’re reheating stuffing just before dinner.)

The version photographed here is a relatively light version of this tart—I only added half of the roasted squash, to keep the bites light (and for photo purposes)—but feel free to use all the squash and overlap the pieces. You might not be able to see the onions, but you’ll end up with a heartier meal. Once it’s baked, just cut whatever size pieces you want: small squares if you’re serving a crowd or large squares if you just want to eat this for dinner with a simple salad on the side.

Squash Tart with Bacon and Gruyère

Serves 4 as a meal (with a side salad) or up to 12 as mini bites

1 small butternut squash (or 2–3 cups pre-cut squash)
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
2–3 pieces bacon
1 yellow onion
1 sheet of frozen puff pastry
1–2 handfuls grated gruyere (about 1 cup)
1–2 sprigs fresh thyme

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Peel and deseed the squash and cut it into thin slices, about ¼” thick. (Alternatively, you use pre-cut squash and just cut the large pieces into smaller, 1”-wide chunks.)

2. Spread the squash pieces out on a sheet tray (overlapping a bit is fine), drizzle them with some olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Use your hands to spread the oil and seasonings onto all the pieces, flipping them a bit so both sides are covered. Roast the squash until tender but not browned, about 30 minutes for slices, 20–30 minutes for more cube-like pieces.

3. While the squash is roasting, roughly chop the bacon (or cut into batons) and thinly slice the onion. Remove the puff pastry from the freezer and set it aside to thaw.

4. Cook the bacon a large pan, over medium heat, until all the fat is rendered but the pieces have not crisped. Remove the bacon from the pan, leaving the fat.

5. Add the onion to the pan, drizzle it with some olive oil, and season it with a big pinch of salt and a couple grinds of pepper. Cook the onion on high, stirring constantly, until it is beginning to soften and some of the edges are beginning to brown. When the onions start to brown, turn the heat down to medium, add a splash of water to the pan and mix it into the onions; this will help them soften more quickly and will keep them from burning. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the onions are nicely wilted and browned, about 20 minutes; if needed you can add another splash or two of water as you go, to keep things from burning. When they’re nicely soft and light brown, let them cook until they start to release sugars into the pan; you’ll see little “sparkles” of bubbles in the bottom of the pan when you move the onions.

6. When the squash and onion are both finished cooking, set them aside to cool a bit.

7. When the puff pastry has thawed enough to unfold it without breaking it, lightly flour a large piece of parchment paper (about the same size as a sheet tray), and roll out the puff pastry almost to the edges of the paper. Slide the puff pastry onto a sheet tray.

8. Sprinkle half of the cheese onto the puff pastry, leaving a border of about 1–2” around the edge, then distribute the onions, squash, and bacon on top and finish with the remaining cheese and leaves from the thyme sprig.

9. Bake the tart (still at 375°F) until the edges are puffy and flaky and lightly browned, about 25 minutes. Cut the tart into squares to serve.

Photos: Georgia Freedman