Summer Tomato Tart
Philip is officially on strike. He said won’t be cooking until the heatwave goes away. I can’t really complain as this is the perfect excuse for me to jump in the kitchen and make something tasty.
Enter my tomato and goat cheese tart topped with pine nuts and fresh oregano.
Flaky Pastry is one of my big loves. I have tried countless recipes in search for the perfect crunchiness Vs. flakiness ratio. I love how versatile this kind of pastry is and how many tasty dishes you can prepare with it.
Before I write down the recipe though, it’s important to note that 32° C is not the ideal temperature for making flaky pastry. You need a cooler temperature that allows you to keep the butter as chilled as possible while making the dough. If you manage to keep the butter chilled, it will melt in the oven, leaving small air pockets that expand from the steam that is created in the oven. These air pockets are your flakes.
In the tips and cheats section you’ll also find a couple of tips on how to control your dough when it’s a million degrees outside.
I will give you precise quantities for the shortcrust, but I will leave filling quantities up to you. Fillings are a very personal matter, so I’ll let you decide if you want just a bit of goat cheese or a looooot. Either way, the tart will be delicious.
The pastry is on me, but the filling is up to you
Ingredients:
Shortcrust
320g flour
225g butter
1tsp salt
50-60g ice water
1 egg for brushing
Filling
Tomatoes
Coarse salt
Oregano
Goats cheese
Pine nuts
Olive oil
2 tbsp tomato paste (1 per tart)
Cooking time & People
This recipe makes 2 tarts of approximately 24cm diameter
Roughly 2h - 20min hands on + 1h rest + 35min in the oven at 200° C
Step by step
Tomato Prep:
The first thing you want to do is to get rid of as much water as possible. You don’t want to end up with a soggy tart. Slice the tomatoes about 2cm width. Put some kitchen towel on the bottom of a baking tray and adjust your tomato slices on top
Sprinkle the tomatoes with coarse salt and cover with another layer of kitchen roll. Let them rest for 30min
After 30min take your tomato slices and get rid of the seeds and gelatinous part, leaving only the flesh (pictures below)
Replace the kitchen towel at the bottom of your tray with new dry kitchen towel. Adjust your deseeded tomatoes and cover. Let them rest until you are ready to compose your tart
For the Flaky Pastry:
Mix flour with salt in a big bowl
Cut the cold butter in cubes and rub it with your fingers in the flour until it's incorporated and looks like wet sand (pictures below)
Add the ice-cold water and bring the mixture together forming a ball. Don’t over-mix it, it is actually ok to be able to see little pieces of butter within the dough (remember the flakes?)
Wrap the dough in cling film and let it rest in the fridge for 30min at least
Composing the tart:
These quantities make 2 tarts. Cut the dough in half. Roll out the first half between two sheets of parchment paper (pictures below). This will make it easier and quicker.
When you have finished rolling it out remove one sheet of parchment paper and place it at the bottom of your baking tray. Dust the parchment paper with a bit of flour (this will help you achieve a crunchy bottom)
Take the parchment paper with the rolled-out dough and reverse it on the tray (the same way you would turn a frittata) then carefully remove the top parchment paper
Dust the top of the dough with a bit of flour, once again this will help you achieve a crunchy base
Roughly trim the edges of your pastry with a knife. You don't need it to be perfectly round, just try to get rid of very uneven edges
Spread the tomato paste starting from the middle, leaving only the edges of the pastry out (picture below)
Now it's time to place you tomatoes in the middle of the rolled-out pastry. At this point, the tomatoes will be dry enough and will not ruin the crunchiness and flakiness of your tart. The tomatoes can overlap a bit between them if you want. As explained above, you are free to manage your filling
Add little roundels of goat cheese on top of the tomatoes. Scatter your pine nuts and your oregano leaves. If you are using fresh oregano, make sure you only add a few leaves as the taste is stronger than dried oregano
Now it's time to fold the edges of your pastry. Fold them covering part of the tomatoes. You don't have to be very neat; this is a rustic tart
You can play around with the edge and try and add some 'movement' on the dough as this, once baked, will give you a nice crunchy crust
Beat the egg and brush the edges of the tart
Drizzle with olive oil and bake at 200 C for 35minutes. Let it cool down and enjoy!
Repeat the steps above for the second tart. If you just want to make one, you can freeze the remaining dough
Tips and cheats
Before I get into details of how to save your dough in the Summer, let me remind you that you can prepare this recipe using ready-made shortcrust or puff pastry. There is nothing wrong with this.
When it’s warm, your fridge and your freezer are your biggest allies. This is when and how you should use them:
The butter will inevitably melt a bit, but you shouldn’t have shiny, greasy hands. If you feel the butter melting in your hands when rubbing it in the flour, stop immediately and put your bowl in the fridge for 15-20min
If your pastry feels too soft before rolling it out, put it in the freezer for 10min
Once you have composed the tart and you are waiting for the oven to heat up, put the whole tart in the fridge
In other words, every time you feel your pastry has been managed too long, is getting too soft or your hands are greasy just put it in the fridge or freezer for a little while. Your ultimate goal is to prevent the butter from melting completely.
You can use this base for any kind of veggie tart you want. Always remember that veggies have a high percentage of water, this means you want to get rid of it before you place them on the tart. The salting technique used for the tomatoes works for most vegetables
Enjoy!
