Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Summer Tomato Tart – Better Than a Nude Beach

One of these days Michele and I will travel to the south of France, where we’ll make it a point to eat this amazing tomato tart at least once a day. It’s going to be hot, since we’ll have to go in the middle of summer, so we can enjoy the best possible tomatoes, but that’s fine, as long as they don’t run out of chilled rosé.

While beautiful in its own way, this tart doesn’t necessarily look like it’s going to be one of the most delicious things ever, but then you bite into the crispy, buttery crust, which is the perfect delivery system for the tangy Dijon, and sweet, caramelized tomatoes, and you’re like, yeah, that guy was right.

By the way, if you want to learn some really good French swear words, call this a “French pizza” in front of a French chef. They don’t quite agree with the analogy. However, there is one common denominator. Both can be ruined with too much topping. Just like we don’t want to overload a thin-crust pizza with a ton of sauce and cheese, we need to be restrained with this as well.

One layer of tomato is plenty, since more than that will make for a too wet tart, which means your pastry will not stay crispy. Besides that, there’s not much that can go wrong, unless you use subpar tomatoes. But, since we’re right in the middle of peak season that shouldn’t be a problem, so I really do hope you give this tomato tart a try soon. Enjoy!


Ingredients:
enough puff pastry to make your shell
enough extra-strong Dijon mustard to sauce the inside
enough sliced tomatoes to fill the tart with a single layer
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
several big pinches of Herbes de Provence (or an Italian herb blend if you can’t find)
extra-virgin olive oil, as needed
freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, as needed
fresh chopped herbs to garnish

- Pre-bake tart shell for about 10 minutes at 400 F.
- Let cool about 10-15 minutes, then fill and bake at 400 F. for about 25-30 minutes, or until pastry is well-browned and crisp.

16 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey Chef John, thanks for your videos! They have helped me a lot as an amateur cook. Quick question, what brand is your stove? I think a video showing us some of your equipment and what you think are essentials would be awesome.

Again, thank you!

Unknown said...

Hello Chef John,

I'd like to introduce you to a variant of this recipe from the north-east of France (I don't believe one second we have some exclusivity on it but i'll claim it anyway because this is the internet).

Basically it uses :

- a pâte brisée (translated by Google in "Pastry" but that seems fishy) instead of puff pastry so it's still cripsy but more dense and way easier to make from scratch

- a lot of very finely minced yellow onions to make a "bed" on the pre-baked pastry (half an inch high but on all of the surface, a blender works well but it tastes better when chopped)

- a big layer of lighlty salted and black-peppered tomatoes (beef heart tomatoes produces the best results since they are less watery)

- some cloves of garlic very finely minced on the very top, lightly spread

- baking it in the oven (circular shape is traditional) and serve while reasonably hot

The baking times and temperature and overall methods are the same as in your recipe.

It makes for a more rustic version of the tart that doesn't looks like much but is very tasty !

Pictures (only ones I have right now, so not really photogenic) : https://imgur.com/a/qknp9dF

Best regards

Points2Ponder said...

Chef John is the best. Always something new/fun i think a star in N.Y. walkway is in order sir!

Smith1599 said...

I know that are going to get dozens of these, But:

"-let cool about 10-15 minutes, then fill and BAKE at 400F"...not BALE!

You are not the Christian Bale of your erroneous tale!

Unknown said...

Looks great, what kind of tomato?

Unknown said...

Hi, Can I make this the day before? Will the crust remain crisp?

CaseyRocky said...

Your herbs are better than my mccormick bottle. Can I dehyrdrate my own herbs from scratch - foodwish a sequel presentation s’il vous plait?

Ratty said...

I made this yesterday and I loved it! I have to make it again next week having learned what I know now:

I ruined the border by cutting the dough strip too deeply. It bloomed out like flower petals. Next time just score very lightly.

Way too much mustard. I trusted Chef John by being "generous" but, sorry, no. Next time just a light spread of it.

The textures, the tomatoes, the crisp pastry - it was all so fabulous and easy.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Wait...where’s the cayenne?

Sir Geek said...

Just an FYI - There is a brand of puff that is refrigerated
From Wewalka there are no seams to fix. It is 9x14 and it comes on its own piece of parchment paper.

PJ said...

It looks great, but I can’t say it looks better than San Onofre in the early 70s ��

Bruce McClinton said...

John, this one knocks it out of the park. My friends fell in love. And it's so simple to make even I can't screw it up - at least not too badly!

gasguy said...

Have to agree with 'Ratty' above. Made this today came out great but the dijon overwhelmed everything.

B&J Long said...

Oh my gosh! AMAZING! The flavor and texture.... everyone that ate it wanted more! Simply extraordinary;-)

berkoko said...

a perfectly simple yet delicious recipe, thanks chef John.

Made these without herbes de provence, instead just used thyme and it still worked. will try with proper herbs next time.

I made this with a large sheet of puff pastry, but keep in mind its hard to control it if you decide to go big. if we talk in tomato sizes and chef john's is 4 x 1.5, mine was 4 x 3.

I also added some green bell peppers, work out ok in my opinion. I may also add some red onion next time.