Carrot Tarte Tatin

Traditionally made as a dessert with apple, tarte tatin is a visually pleasing dish. Combining caramelised carrots with feta cheese and puff pastry makes this a filling and delicious savoury alternative.

Ingredients:

300 grams store-bought puff pastry
60 grams butter
60 grams caster sugar
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
200 grams long, thin carrots (my store has them classed as Imperator)
50 grams feta cheese
1 tablespoon grated ginger root

Method:

Preheat the oven to 190°C (fan-assisted).
Top, tail, and peel carrots, and then cut lengthways. You may need to cut a couple widthways to fit into the pan later.
Cut your puff pastry to size, you want it to be just a tad smaller than the (ovenproof) pan you intend to use -- I used a 25cm pan.
Dock the pastry heavily with a fork. Try and do this as close to the cooking time as possible - you don't want warm pastry until it's in the oven.
Prepare the caramel by melting your butter in an ovenproof pan over low heat.
Add sugar and cumin seeds, stir to combine, and then leave alone until a nice golden (caramel, if you will) colour.
Arrange carrots cut-side-down in the pan, cutting some down to size to fit in the gaps.
Pour in 50 ml water, add a lid, and simmer for 5 minutes to lightly poach the carrots.
Uncover the pan, drape the pastry over the top, and tuck the sides over the carrots with a spatula. Everything here is hot, especially the caramel, so be careful.
Add to the oven, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes, until deep golden brown on top.
Add a plate to the top of the pan, and invert to flip the tarte onto the plate.
The carrots should be glistening and golden -- if not, bake carrot-side-up for 5-10 minutes until you're happy.
Crumble over feta and garnish with chives (if your carrots came with green tops, you can use those) and black pepper.
Serve immediately!