Roast Tomato and Harissa Tart
This tart is a knockout – I’d never made it before this (photo) but we enjoyed it so much I made it again the next day to take to my grandparents. They loved it too and I’ve had a number of requests for the recipe. I’ve done a lot of cooking from the Tart London cookbook A Love of Eating and this is one of their faves, the original recipe is from Jane Grigson’s Vegetable Book, first published in 1978. It’s an easy recipe to make and I also like it because the ingredients are straightforward to get hold of. Harissa can be harder to find and easily substituted with chillis or cayenne pepper. This is also great if you’re struggling to get your hands on flour because it only needs 125 grams. Then it’s equal parts butter and blitzed oats for the base. The filling is also super simple, made up of garlic, onion, a tin of tomatoes, cheddar cheese and a sprinkling of parmesan. It’s failsafe and comforting – and just what we all need right now.
To make the base: you will need 125 grams of plain flour, porridge oats and unsalted butter, an egg (beaten) and a pinch of salt. Before you start, preheat the oven to 190 degrees celsius and put a baking sheet in to heat up (this will help the base cook as the heat rises underneath the tart tin). Once the oven is on, blitz the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until it is just starting to form a dough. Tip out and press into a loose bottomed tart tin (about 22cm recommended). Make sure to press all the dough into the flutes of the tin, once the case is complete pop it into the fridge to chill whilst you make the filling.
To make the filling: you will need a knob of butter, an onion, a large clove of garlic (crushed) and a tin of chopped tomatoes. Finely chop the onion and add to a pan with the butter to a medium-low heat, after a couple of minutes add the crushed garlic. When the onion and garlic have softened, pour in the tin of tomatoes, turning up the heat to bring the mixture to a boil – this will reduce any excess water, allowing the sauce to thicken. Once the sauce has thickened, take it off the heat. Break an egg into a measuring jug and add enough double cream to bring to 150ml; mix well. Now stir 60 grams of grated Cheddar cheese and a tablespoon of Parmesan into the tomato sauce, then the egg and cream mixture and a teaspoon of harissa or one small chilli to taste. Pour the sauce into the pastry case and arrange a handful of halved cherry tomatoes cut side up, on top. Place the tart case onto the preheated baking sheet and bake for 30 – 40 minutes, or until nicely golden on top and slightly bouncy when touched.