Tomato, onion & cheddar tart
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The pastry for this tart is a bit di erent from the others in this book; it incorporates both butter and sour cream and makes the easiest, most delicious, delicate, flaky, buttery tart you have ever tasted. I love this pastry for savoury preparations that are baked in tins as opposed to free-form galettes, which require a sturdier dough. This recipe is inspired by my friend, Martin Boetz. He made a version of this, without tomato, at a lunch we were cooking at. He told me it was his grandmother’s recipe, and it just has that feel about it – it’s old fashioned and I love it. 250g (1⅔ cups) plain all-purpose
flour, plus extra for dusting 150g cold unsalted butter, diced ½ tsp salt
125g (½ cup) sour cream
1 egg 400g white onion, thinly sliced 2 tsp chopped thyme
50g unsalted butter
100g sour cream
100g grated cheddar cheese 3 eggs
1 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour 2 tbsp cream
2 tbsp grated parmesan
leafy salad, to serve
1 Start by making the pastry. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, butter and salt and pulse until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add the sour cream and egg and pulse a few more times until the pastry comes together in a ball. Shape this into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour in the fridge.
2 Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan forced).
3 Remove the pastry from the fridge, dust with flour and roll out to a thickness of 2 3mm. Try to keep as round as possible. Gently lift this into the base of a 23 25cm pie dish or tart tin. You want to leave 1 2 cm of excess pastry hanging over the edge to allow for shrinkage as it bakes. Use scissors to trim o any wider bits. Press a sheet of baking paper on top of the pastry and fill with baking weights or uncooked rice or beans to prevent the pastry pu ing up as it cooks. Place the dish on a tray and bake for 20 30 minutes. When the crust looks golden on the edges, remove the baking weights and continue baking for a further 15 20 minutes. If the crust looks like it’s pu ing up, poke a few holes in it with a fork to allow steam to escape. When golden all over, remove from oven and leave to cool completely. This step could be done in advance. Reduce oven temperature to 160°C (140°C fan forced), ready to bake the pie.
4 Peel your tomatoes by cutting a small X on their bases, dropping them into boiling water for 10 20 seconds, then immediately refreshing in iced water. The skin should now peel o easily, starting from the X. Cut into 5mm slices and set aside.
5 In a sauté pan, sauté your onions and thyme in the butter until completely soft and translucent but not coloured. Season with salt and black pepper and set aside to cool. Once cool, mix with the sour cream, cheddar, eggs and flour. Pour the mixture into the base of the tart shell, then layer the sliced tomatoes over the top. Finally, sprinkle with the cream and parmesan and place on a tray. Bake for 40 60 minutes, or until the tart is no longer wobbly and is completely set. If the crust is browning too much, wrap the edge in foil to allow the custard to continue cooking. Remove from the oven and serve warm or at room temperature with a leafy salad.