Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Tomato frangipane tart

June 2, 2013


When Michael headed out of town, I went straight to the #tomato tag in my recipe wish list. At the top of it was this tomato and almond tart recipe from Ottolenghi in The Guardian. The (admittedly optional) inclusion of anchovies in a recipe marked (V) gives me an irritable-vegetarian-tic but I think they're easily replaced with capers.

Between the sheet of puff pastry and thick tomato slices lies Ottolenghi's clever savoury riff on frangipane. The usual butter, eggs and almond meal get the cheese and garlic treatment instead of sugar, and it's no less luscious. The butter and garlic made the biggest impression on me so if I were concocting a vegan version, I'd hesitate to replace the butter entirely with margarine. Supplementing with cashew butter, then going hard on the garlic and nooch might have a comparable effect.

This tart needs nothing more than some green leaves to support it; it's fabulous both freshly baked and later, at room temperature.


Tomato frangipane tart
(slightly adapted from this Yotam Ottolenghi recipe)

1 sheet puff pastry
70g butter, softened
1 egg
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/3 cup almonds, ground
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
50g ricotta
1/4 cup sharp cheddar, finely grated
salt and pepper
500g tomatoes, sliced 1cm thick
2 teaspoons capers
1 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat an oven to 220°C and if your pastry sheet is frozen, take it out to thaw.

Using an electric mixer over a medium-sized bowl, beat the butter until fluffy. Keep the beater running and add the egg. If it stubbornly won't beat in completely (mine wouldn't), add a few breadcrumbs and beat some more. Stop the beater and thoroughly stir in all the breadcrumbs, the ground almonds and the garlic. Next stir in half the thyme leaves and all of the ricotta and cheddar, plus a generous sprinkle of salt.

Line a baking tray with paper and place the puff pastry on it. Spread the almond mixtures thickly over the pastry, leaving a 2cm border around the edge bare. Arrange the tomato slices over the almond spread, allowing them to overlap. Sprinkle over the capers and the remaining thyme, a little salt and a lot of pepper, then drizzle it all with the olive oil.

Bake the tart for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 180°C and bake for a further 10 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown. Give it at least a couple of minutes to rest before slicing and serving. It's also great at room temperature.

14 comments:

  1. This looks SO good! Definitely keen to try a vegan version- thanks for the tips!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're welcome, Erinwiko! I hope you'll report back if you give it a go.

      Delete
  2. This looks great. I like the simple Ottolenghi recipes, my eyes start to glaze over when he has all those ingredients I've never heard of.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Elizabeth! Yes, a lot of Ottolenghi recipes have ridiculously long ingredient lists and odd ones at that. They are weekend projects in this house.

      Delete
  3. This looks so good!! I've been eyeballing the veggo Ottolenghi book online for about a year; I'm not sure why I haven't bought it yet. Also - would you believe I've never eaten capers? I bought a jar last week out of curiosity but haven't done anything with it yet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi AA - never eaten capers?! Best get cracking, I hope you have fun with 'em. :-)

      Delete
  4. What a fascinating play on frangipane! But hey, even the sweet kind might work; tomato is a fruit after all, and I once had a fabulous tomato sorbet dessert ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hannah, I would be totally up for that - sweet and tangy, soft and creamy. I reckon it could work!

      Delete
  5. I love frangipani so this savoury version sounds fantastic - I think using blue cheese here would be brilliant too

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Johanna - yes, blue cheese could definitely work! I might skip the capers if I were trying that.

      Delete
  6. I get the same tic when non-veg optionals are suggested for veg-labelled recipes. But put a piece of this gorgeous tart in front of me and Ottolenghi is forgiven!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Lisa! That's exactly how I feel, Ottolenghi gets a pass for all those lovely veg recipes he develops. :-)

      Delete
  7. Oh, that looks wonderful! I'm going to have to try it.

    ReplyDelete