Advertisement

Try Rosie Birkett’s flavour-packed tomato galette, then check out our sweet potato and brie galette, cherry jam and almond galettes and courgette galette. We’ve also got plenty more delicious savoury tart recipes and tomato recipes.

Rosie says: “This freeform tomato tart is one of my all-time favourite summer recipes. As they’re slow-cooked, the flavour of the tomatoes concentrates, and the pastry becomes crisp and toothsome, and sturdy enough to hold in all the gorgeous tomato juices. A sharp salsa of freshly cooked broad beans mixed with the tomato juice brings it all to life upon serving. Use a whole tub of ricotta here, half in the pastry, half in the custard. If a more tender crust is preferred, leave out the rye flour and use all spelt or plain, but I personally love the crunch and texture that the rye provides."

Ingredients

  • 600g tomatoes (different colours and sizes), cut into 1cm slices
  • ½ tsp each salt and sugar
  • 2 tsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp 
olive oil

BROAD BEAN SALAD

  • 2 tbsp 
olive oil
  • finely shredded to make 1 tbsp lovage leaves, (or use a mix of flat-leaf parsley and chervil)
  • 2 tbsp broad beans, blanched and double podded

PASTRY

  • light spelt flour 180g, and wholegrain rye flour 20g, (or use 200g spelt or plain flour, if that's all you have), plus extra for dusting
  • 100g ricotta
  • 20ml olive oil
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • ½ tsp fennel seeds

FILLING

  • 1 egg yolk
  • 100g ricotta
  • grated to make 2 tbsp parmesan or vegetarian hard cheese
  • 1 tbsp capers
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds

Method

  • STEP 1

    First, toss the sliced tomatoes with the salt, sugar, red wine vinegar, thyme and a grind of pepper, and leave them to marinate for 1 hour. Tip the tomatoes into a sieve placed over a bowl to strain off the juices, reserving the juices to use later in the dressing. Put the tomatoes back in the bowl and toss with the tbsp of olive oil.

  • STEP 2

    While the tomatoes are marinating, make the pastry. Put the flours, ricotta and 1 tsp of fine sea salt in the bowl of a food processor and blitz until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the olive oil, then add 1-3 tbsp of iced water, a tbsp at a time, sprinkling it all across the crumb and blitzing between additions until the dough clumps together. Don’t add too much water here as this will make the pastry tough – you may not need it all.

  • STEP 3

    Tip the dough out into a large bowl, mould it into a ball and flatten to a disc. Wrap it in baking paper (rather than cling film, which makes it sweat) and put it in the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes.

  • STEP 4

    For the filling, mix together the egg yolk, ricotta, parmesan and some salt and pepper in a bowl.

  • STEP 5

    Remove the pastry from the fridge, unwrap it and roll it out on a worksurface lightly dusted with flour into a dinner plate-sized circle with the thickness of a pound coin. Transfer to the lined baking sheet. Spread the custard mixture onto the pastry, leaving a 5cm border around the edge of the circle.

  • STEP 6

    Top the mixture with the marinated tomatoes, placing them in concentric overlapping circles. Top with the capers. Gently lift the border of the pastry up and around the filling. As you lift the dough and place it against the filling, it will pleat naturally. Be sure to patch up any tears, then brush the pastry with the beaten egg and scatter over the fennel seeds. Bake in the oven for 1 hour until the tomatoes have shrivelled and darkened slightly, and the pastry is crisp.

  • STEP 7

    Meanwhile, make the salsa by whisking the drained tomato juices in a bowl with the olive oil, then stir through the lovage and broad beans. When the tart is ready, remove it from the oven, leave it to settle for 10-15 minutes, then slice and serve with the lovage and broad bean salsa spooned over.

This recipe comes from The Joyful Home Cook by Rosie Birkett (HarperCollins, £14.99).

Advertisement

Comments, questions and tips

Rate this recipe

What is your star rating out of 5?

Choose the type of message you'd like to post

Choose the type of message you'd like to post

Overall rating

A star rating of 5 out of 5.1 rating
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement