Fleshy pleasures
Produce gluts are now upon us. For all the home gardeners out there, this is the time of year that tomatoes and zucchinis become slightly problematic – there are just so many of them. Whereas tomato growing is not guaranteed to be full of joy – some years they boom, some years they bust – it seems that zucchinis always flourish, for everyone.
For years I have been making an easy version of a tomato tart. Inspired by my friend Kate Hill, who lives and works in Gascony, in south-western France, it is a simple “bande” tart and is made with shortcrust pastry, so it is quite flaky. The tart’s simplicity is beguiling: there’s the hint of heat from a smear of Dijon mustard, the sweetness of beautiful tomatoes, the sharpness of the cheese and the crunch of the pastry. This year I have changed it up a bit. Faced with an even bigger crop of zucchinis than usual, I use a mandolin to slice the fruit very finely, then tear some flowers over the top with a bit of parsley (basil would also be lovely). The result is a tart that is every bit as delicious as the tomato version, with the bonus that it uses a lot of zucchinis.
A little note about the pastry. It is very easy to make it, especially if you are using a mixer. The trick to it is not to over mix the butter into the flour. If the butter is left as raggedy smears through the flour before the liquids are added, it will result in a flakier pastry when rolled out. When you do roll it out, there should be visible streaks of butter.
For those who are a little nervous of making pastry, this is a great one to start with. The addition of the whole egg makes it an easy pastry to work with. The protein and water content of the egg white helps to better bind the ingredients, but also creates more steam in the baking process which, in conjunction with the smears of butter, creates the wonderful flake of this crust.
Side by side these tarts are a great pair, especially delicious with a crisp green salad on a late summer’s night.