This week I saw the first promise of tomato season. A few brightly colored cherry samples were brought home from the local market, as well as the more standard varieties. I was down in Gascony visiting my friend Kate Hill, and her photographer friend Tim Clinch was there preparing to run a photography workshop. Looking for something tempting and colorful, tomatoes seemed the obvious choice to be subjects ready for pictures, and for dinner.
Besides the abundance of flowers plucked from the lush garden by the canal du Midi, tomatoes had their moment in front of the camera. But once the participants stopped clicking, we caught them and put them where they belong: In the kitchen.
In France, tarts are not considered “special occasion” fare, and if you are invited to someone’s home for a meal, even the most inept home cook will make a quiche or tarte saléewho will surprise you when they present a stunning tart a tablelooking every bit as good as anything raised from the local bakery.
True, some chefs here cheat a bit and use pre-bought pâte brisée, which you can buy in the supermarket fridge case where it is sold rolled and in a box like plastic wrap. However, I will admit that it makes quick work of making a savory pie and on more than one occasion I have been tricked by someone, whose pie I complimented, which has led to what I call “The Trash Can Confession”: when someone has to confess and pulls an empty box out of the garbage canusually from Picard, France’s popular frozen food chain.
I haven’t bought or used the pre-made stuff, as tempting as it may be (!) but this dough is as easy as pie to make and spread. And by the time it takes to go to the store and buy the dough, you can do it. I haven’t tried it with the French tart pastry recipe but Kate assured me it will work with either an unbaked or pre-baked tart shell.
Unlike other savory tarts, such as the Herbed Ricotta Tart, this one has no custard or cream added; it’s just sliced ​​tomatoes, fresh herbs, and sliced ​​rounds of soft goat cheese, browned on top. Without a rich custard, the flavor and texture of the tomatoes is not lost. But fresh goat’s cheese is fantastic, especially when it gets all crusty brown on top, and warm and creamy inside. You can substitute another cheese you like, like comté, haloumi, or fontina, or another favorite fromage which melts well.
Ditto with fresh herbs. A few steps outside her bustling kitchen are large bunches of herbs growing in leafy, grassy abundance. Thyme, bicolor sage, lovage and savory are well represented, but I was especially pleased to find fresh oregano, which for some reason is elusive in Paris.
So when she wasn’t looking, I plucked a few sprigs (ok, more than a few sprigs), which I tucked away in my suitcase. Along with the homemade red wine vinegar and the foie gras she gave me. I also had some bitter chestnut honey that I picked up at the Cahors market. (And, of course, a trip to the local antiques market netted me some vintage wine glasses and Kate scored three gorgeous old French jam jars for just €5 a pop.)
I’m not a fan of sweet-savory cooking—with a few exceptions, mostly glazed Korean chicken wings, but when I saw the sticky jar of brusque miel de ronce (wild blackberry honey) on her counter, I suggested drizzling a little on the tart just before baking. We had some leftover dough, so we took it out and made a mini-tart to try it out. And it was a huge success.
But the real stroke of genius, I think, is the layer of mustard that is spread over the tart, providing a spicy back-bite to the baked tomato slices. You can go as easy or as generous as you want. The French love them Dijon mustard so be shy: a layer that is thick like what you’d spread on a sandwich is just about right.
Perfect hot from the oven, or also great at room temperature, this is perfect summer fare. You can pair it with the proverbial leafy green salad or go whole hog and serve it on a buffet with PLTs (Pork, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwiches). But in my mind, the best accompaniment is glasses of rosé over ice. And from the number of bottles we went through that afternoon, none seemed to disagree.
French Tomato Tart
Kate didn’t let the dough rest, but simply rolled it out, transferred it to the tart ring, and ran the rolling pin over the dough to neatly trim the edges. If you’d like to make a free-style tart, roll the dough to about 14 inches across, then transfer it to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
You can use a 10- or 12-inch (23-26cm) tart ring with a removable bottom. Assemble the tart, leaving a 2 inch (5 cm) border, which is then folded over to close the tart. Depending on the size of your pan, you may have some batter left over. We used it to make some mini-tartlets, which we enjoyed later that evening with our aperitifs.
Ingredients
Pie Filling
- One unbaked tart dough (see recipe below)
- Dijon or whole mustard
- 2-3 large ripe tomatoes
- 2 spoons olive oil
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- two generous spoons chopped fresh herbs such as thyme, chives, chervil, or tarragon
- 8 ounce (250g) fresh or slightly aged goat’s cheese cut into rounds
- Optional: 1 1/2 spoons honey taste
Tart dough
- 1 1/2 cups (210g) flour
- 4 1/2 ounce (125g) unsalted butter cooled, cut into cubes
- 1/2 a spoon salt
- 1 a large egg
- 2-3 spoons cold water
Instructions
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Make the dough by mixing the flour and salt in a bowl. Add the butter and use your hands, or a pastry blender, to break in the butter until the mixture has a crumbly texture, like cornmeal.
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Mix the egg with 2 tablespoons of water. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the beaten egg mixture, mixing until the dough holds together. If it does not come together easily, add the additional tablespoon of ice water.
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Gather the dough into a ball and roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, adding additional flour only as needed to prevent the dough from sticking to the counter.
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Once the dough is large enough to cover the bottom of the pan and come up the sides, roll the dough around the rolling pin then unroll it onto the tart pan. “Dock” the bottom of the dough well with your fingers a few times, press to make indentations. If making a freestyle tart, simply transfer the dough to a prepared baking sheet (see head note); there is no need to make indentations with your fingers.
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Preheat the oven to 425ºF (218ºC). See the note.
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Spread an even layer of mustard on the bottom of the tart and let it sit for a few minutes to dry.
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Slice the tomatoes and arrange them on top of the mustard in a single, even layer. Drizzle olive oil on top.
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Sprinkle with some chopped fresh herbs, then arrange the goat cheese slices on top. Add some more fresh herbs, then drizzle with a little honey, if using. (If baking a free-form tart, gather the edges when done, to enclose the filling.)
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Bake the tart for 30 minutes or so, until the pastry is cooked, the tomatoes are soft, and the cheese on top is well cooked. Depending on the heat of your oven, if the cheese isn’t browned to your liking, you may want to pass it under the broiler until just done.
Notes
Recipes and Related Links
Eggless chervil mayonnaise
Camp Cassoulet
Preserved tomatoes
French pear and almond tart
Vegetable Ricotta Tart
Summer tomato salad recipe
Panzanella
Easy jam tart
Tim Clinch Photography
Kate Hill’s kitchen in Camont Bl