Thursday, September 8, 2011

Tarte Fine à la Tomate & Moutarde

Tomato & Mustard Puff Pastry Tart

The tail end of summer is winding down fast.  Here's an easy tart to pull together that uses the last summer tomatoes you may have on hand.  This makes a great lunch when served with a salad, packs well for picnics or makes nice appetizers if cut into bite-size pieces.


Ingredients:
200-230g / 7-8 oz puff pastry (either fresh, or frozen that has been thawed)
5-6 ripe tomatoes, sliced thinly and seeded
about 2-3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
about 1/3 - 1/2 cup of grated gruyère or swiss cheese
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
salt & pepper
herbs de provence, to taste
chopped sun dried tomatoes (optional)
1 tablespoon capers (optional)

It's so easy, that you can practically follow the pictures to understand how to do it:

 
 
  1. I used a 26 cm / 10 inch glass pie pan - I buttered the bottom before laying out the puff pastry dough inside. Make a decorative edge by pinching the sides with your figures (we'll just call it rustic then).  You could also make this in a rectangular shape or cut into small individual circles.  Use a sheet of parchment paper underneath in these cases.  Dock the dough; rest in fridge until needed.
  2. Preheat oven to 200°C /400°F (I used convection).
  3. Cut your tomatoes thinly and seed them.  Coat with olive oil.  Set aside until needed.
  4. Spoon the mustard on the bottom of the puff pastry dough.
  5. Sprinkle with cheese.  Just a thin layer is enough.  This isn't really about the cheese, it's all about the tomato.  Sprinkle sun dried tomatoes over the cheese (if using).
  6. Place the sliced tomatoes in a rosary pattern around your tart, on top of the cheese.  You could even cut them in half again to get a tighter pattern. I didn't do that today, but when I do, it looks really nice.
  7. Season well with salt, pepper and herbs de Provence (or substitute with rosemary, thyme).  Sprinkle a little more chopped sun dried tomato and capers, if using.
  8. Bake in oven about 20 minutes, or until nicely browned on the  top, side and bottom (the advantage of the glass is that you can actually see it).  The tomatoes should be cooked down a bit & there shouldn't be liquid left from the tomatoes. 
  9. Remove from oven and let rest about 15 minutes.  Can be served room temp or slightly warmed but I find that it's not as good if served piping hot out of the oven.
Enjoy!


:/dma

11 comments:

Catanea said...

Yes! SOME-body is "out there". I've been watching for you. And my neighbour has just given me the last of her summer tomatoes. So now I know what to do this afternoon.
I look forward to more cooking stories!

girlcookinparis said...

Hi Catanea, Thanks for letting me know you are there! Soooooo glad! Hope your own tomato tart turned out well. all the best, diane

Jill @ MadAboutMacarons said...

Just discovered your site today through a mutual Italian friend - what a wonderful site! Love all your pics and this recipe is great. I love this taste of provence! Never thought of adding capers before - nice touch.

girlcookinparis said...

Hi Jill, thanks for visiting and I'm glad M pointed you here! Still loving all your macs!

Kate said...

Uuum good! Happy to have found your blog; I'll be back!!

Ami Vider said...

There is an Israeli cooking student writing about food on Paris streets. Take a look: http://www.eatingcookingfooding.com/ interesting contrast. If you can see the differences from these two different perspective, it's interesting to see what an Israeli as compared to an American write about (and eat :) // just wanted to chime in

girlcookinparis said...

Hi Ami, thanks for the connection! I checked out her blog & enjoyed reading it! Yes, very interesting to see the different perspectives, and the similar ones. Thx again for chiming in - your chimes are welcome anytime! diane

Unknown said...

It's better with Comté cheese.
Also I think you use too many tomatoes. After all it's only a starter-dish

girlcookinparis said...

Hi Unknown, Welcome here! I think the great thing about recipes is that they are the starting point...only a guideline of what can be done. After that, there are a million and one other ways to interpret it (OK, so I exaggerate just a little! But there are lots & lots of possibilities...). Comté is great, and so is goat cheese, Gorgonzola...and then mayonnaise instead of mustard...more or less tomatoes. With swiss chard, or without...and why not serve it as a main course with a salade? Anything goes as far as I'm concerned! As long as it tastes good, that is...!

SUSANNA said...

I ACTUALLY LOOKING FOR A TARTE TARTIN RECEIPLE
BUT WITH TOMATOS. ANY IDEAS? I HAVE A COPPER
PAN THAT I PUT IN THE OVEN.

THANKS, SUSANNA

girlcookinparis said...

Hi Susanna, with a copper pan you should be able to make a great tarte tatin because copper pans are great for making caramels...Here's what I would do, and until I write a post about it: make a caramel with cassonade here in France or with regular sugar (6 soup spoons) with 3-4 soup spoons of balsalmic vinegar. Remove from heat. Add cherry tomatoes, enough to fill the bottom of the pan - being careful with the hot sugar; avoid touching it, etc, as it will burn! Season well with salt, pepper, and I love other dried herbes like herbes de Provence (as in the tarte in this post). Put back on stovetop and shake pan a bit to coat the tomatoes; should be syrup-y or cook till you get that. Remove from heat. You can add a sprinkle of grated parmesan if you like. Cover with a round of puff pastry, docked with a fork (basically covering all of the bottom & creating a little border along the edge). Cook in preheated oven 200°C for about 20-25 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven; let rest a few minutes before demolding (I use a wood cutting board to put on top of pan and then reverse it, tapping the pan slightly against the cutting board to demold...). I assume your copper pan is about a 20cm-22cm diametre...good luck & if you try it, let me know how it works for you. all the best, diane