When the tomatoes go soft and intensely flavoured there are few tomato tarts better than upside-down tomato tarte tatin. As Lindsay Bareham observed “Roasting the tomatoes first intensifies the flavours and avoids excess juice.”
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS
8 vine tomatoes
Olive oil
100g plain flour, plus 3 tablspoons
50g butter
Cold water
1 tablspoon syrupy balsamic vinegar
2 tablspoon freshly grated parmesan
A handful of basil leaves
If life’s too short for making pastry then feel free to use pre rolled.
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180C⁰
Halve the tomatoes through their middles and lay, cut side up, on a shallow roasting tin. Smear the cut surfaces with olive oil and season with salt. Place near the top of the oven and cook for 45 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft and squidgy; this could be done up to 48 hours in advance and the tomatoes kept, covered, in the fridge.
To make the pastry, sift 100g flour into the bowl of a food processor. Add the diced butter and a pinch of salt. Blitz briefly, just until flour and butter resemble breadcrumbs. Add 3 tablespoons of cold water. Pulse, adding extra water if necessary, to make cohesive dough. Form into a ball and chill in a plastic bag for 30 minutes.
Nudge the tomatoes, cut side up, in a 18cm ovenproof frying pan or heavy-duty flan tin. Paint with balsamic and dredge with 2 tablespoons of parmesan.
Dust a work surface with flour and roll out the pastry. Place it over the tomatoes, tucking inside the pan.
Increase the oven to 200C and bake for 25-35 minutes until the pastry is cooked through.
Run a knife round the inside edge, place a plate over the top and deftly invert.
Decorate with the basil leaves.
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