
A bumper crop of tomatoes...

Use them in a tart!
Struggling to use up that glut of cherry tomatoes from the greenhouse?
Here's my recipe that will get rid of about 25-30 of them, depending on the size of your tart tin, plus it's really quick and easy to make. You can use ready-made pastry or make your own - I've added fresh chillies and Parmesan cheese to the pastry, which gives a lovely flavour and spicy heat to the tart.

Ingredients for the tart filling

Finished tart
Summer Tomato Tart with Chilli Cheese Pastry
The amounts here are for a tart approximately 13" x 5" in size.
If using ready-made pastry, you can add the finely chopped chillies to the filling if you want a bit of heat.
For the pastry:
5 oz plain flour
2½ oz unsalted butter
Pinch of salt & black pepper
1 fresh red chilli, finely chopped
3-4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
A couple of tablespoons of cold water
Put the flour and butter into a food processor or blender and pulse until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the chopped chilli, Parmesan cheese and seasoning, then pulse until well mixed. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and gradually add the cold water, stirring until the pastry comes together into a ball, you may need slightly more or less water than 2 tablespoons. Rest the pastry for 20-30 minutes before rolling out on a lightly floured surface to fit your tart tin.
For the filling:
3 oz Gruyère cheese, finely grated (or use strong cheddar)
1 large egg
5 tablespoons double cream
Fresh or dried herbs, I used the leaves from some sprigs of fresh thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
25-30 cherry tomatoes
Preheat the oven to 200°C /400ºF.
Slice the cherry tomatoes in half.
Into a medium bowl, put the grated Gruyère cheese, egg, double cream, herbs, salt and pepper - mix well with a fork until combined. Spread it over the tart base, covering the pastry completely. Place the cherry tomato halves onto the cheese mixture, pushing them down slightly.
Bake for 40 -50 minutes until the pastry is cooked through and golden. Serve hot or cold.

This is my contribution to the “Simple and in Season” monthly event held by Ren at Fabulicious Food.
I am entering this recipe into a competition called a Taste for Tomatoes, being held at lovethegarden.com. Anyone can enter, even first time bloggers, so hop over and enter your own recipe!
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This content belongs to Nic at Cherrapeno. All writing and photography copyright N Fowers © 2007-2011 unless otherwise indicated. All rights reserved.
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