Penguin Books Australia

Tomato and Goat's Curd Tart

SERVES 6 This tart recipe assumes you have made your own pesto (see page 131). If not, then finely chop some basil and garlic and make it into a paste with a small quantity of extra-virgin olive oil and use that instead. I used striped Tigerella tomatoes when I made this (see opposite). As I have stated elsewhere in this book, the all-butter puff pastry made by Carême is a fine product and is available in major supermarkets. It is sold frozen and it is best thawed overnight in the refrigerator or at room temperature in a cool place for about one hour.

1 x 25 cm-square sheet ready-made all-butter puff pastry (such as Carême), thawed
1 free-range egg yolk
8 (400 g) tomatoes, cut widthways into 1 cm-thick slices
1 tablespoon Pesto (see page 131)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
50 g goat's curd
6 basil leaves

Place pastry on a baking paper-lined baking tray.With a very sharp knife, score a border 2 cm in from pastry edge on all sides. Lightly whisk egg yolk with a fork and then brush it over pastry, taking care not to drip egg over edges (this prevents pastry layers from rising). Prick all over pastry base with a fork and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, using a teaspoon, flick out most tomato seeds (either keep for planting next year by spreading out on paper towel and leaving to dry before labelling and storing in a dry place, or discard them to the compost heap). Cover a tray with a doubled layer of paper towel, and then lay tomato slices on top. Cover them with more paper towel and leave to drain while pastry chills.

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Bake pastry sheet for 10 minutes, then lower temperature to 170°C and continue cooking for a further 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Press middle of pastry lightly with a dry tea towel if it has risen.

Dot pastry with pesto, spreading it lightly with the back of a teaspoon. Lay tomato slices over, slightly overlapping. Season with a little salt and pepper, then drizzle with olive oil. Return tart to the oven for a further 15 minutes.

Cool tart slightly on a cake cooling rack. Transfer to a chopping board and use a serrated knife to cut into 6 rectangles. Top each portion with a dollop of goat's curd and a basil leaf, then season again, if desired, and serve.