Tomato Tart

As soon as you can get flavoursome tomatoes, which are hard to find but should be around from late summer onwards, this tart is worth the effort. It captures the intense pleasure of that sunshine taste in the tomatoes.

It makes a good starter for 6 to 8 people with bread and perhaps a salad meal to follow - or with potatoes you can serve it as a main course for 4/5 and it is vegetarian. I made this week as a starter and for the first time ever, the pastry was soggy. So I might try blind baking the case a little first another time - but even soggy it was good!

Tomato Tart


Pastry:

170g plain flour
30g grated parmesan - ready grated is fine
85g butter
1 egg


Oven at No 6/200

1. The quickest easiest way is to use a food processor. Mix the cheese and flour briefly first; add the butter and blitz to breadcrumb like; add the lightly beaten egg on pulse until it starts to form a mass. Take out, handle gently, press into a whole. You can of course also make it by hand, rubbing the butter in as if for shortcrust. Rest for 10 minutes or so.
2. Then roll out and use to line a 9'' flan tin with a removable bottom.
3. Chill
4. Bake blind 15 minutes - absolutely optional but a good idea

Filling

• 250 g gruyere or similar cheese - you can use cheddar for a stronger flavour or mix them
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 1 kilo tomatoes fairly thinly sliced
• A good handful of basil, some olive oil and a few black olives

1. Spread the mustard over the pastry base.
2. Lay on the grated cheese.
3. Put the sliced tomatoes in overlapping circles on top, seasoning very well with salt and pepper as you go. It will seem a lot of tomatoes but you need them all.
4. Sprinkle on a little olive oil.

Cook at No 6 for 35 - 45 minutes, until the tomatoes are beginning to brown. Check after 30 so that you don't let all the juices overflow too much. If this is happening, turn the oven down to 4/150 for  the last few minutes.

Mix the basil with some oil in the food processor - much better than by hand - so that you get a green puree. Put this on the tart in blobs and add olives decoratively. Then put it back in the oven but turn it off. Leave and then eat warm - or take out after 20 minutes or so and eat at room temperature or cold - warm is best though.