French tomato tart (tarte à la tomate)

The simple tomato tart is a favourite French dish that makes use of all of those excess ripe summer tomatoes in the kitchen. There are a number of variations, including the upside down tarte Tatin, but this tarte à la tomate is a classic recipe, without cream or eggs in the filling, and just a little kick of Dijon mustard smeared over the free-form pastry base.

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 300 g (2 cups) plain flour
• 150 g cold butter, chopped
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp cold milk
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 6 mixed heirloom tomatoes, sliced
• 250 g vine-ripened cherry tomatoes
• 4 sprigs thyme, plus extra sprigs, to garnish
• 4 sprigs oregano, leaves picked, plus extra oregano leaves, to garnish
• olive oil, to drizzle

Chilling time 30 minutes

Instructions

Process flour, butter and 1 tsp salt in a food processor until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add egg and milk, and process until a dough forms. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200°C. Roll out dough between 2 sheets of baking paper to form a 3 mm-thick round. Transfer to a large oven tray and remove top sheet of baking paper.

Spread dough with mustard, leaving a 3 cm border around edge. Arrange sliced tomatoes over mustard so they are overlapping, then top with cherry tomatoes. Pinch and fold over edge of tart, then scatter with thyme and oregano. Drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes or until pastry is golden and crisp. Garnish with extra oregano and thyme sprigs. Serve cut into slices.

Photography by Chris Chen.

As seen in Feast magazine, Dec/Jan 2013, Issue 27. 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.