Tomato and Pesto Tart
For many years I was privileged enough to have a house in Provence. It was a super happy place that was filled with lots of family and friends. It included mad amounts of entertaining and cooking, visits to markets and discovering lots of amazing local recipes. So loved it. This was one of those signatory “St Blaise” recipes. Tomato and Pesto Tart. I’ve played around with it for years, so this is my take!
Serves 8
Shortcrust pastry ( many things are worth making, in my view but for this recipe, buy it!)
5 large vine ripe tomatoes, thickly sliced
2 red onions - thickly sliced
1 tsp soft brown sugar
4 tbsp olive oil
1 beaten egg, (optional)
Pesto
50g toasted pinenuts
1 big bunch basil, leaves only as stalks discolour it
15g each of Parmesan and Pecorino cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
pinch of sea salt
freshly ground pepper
parmesan shavings
a few basil leaves
(or you can buy a gorgeously yummy fresh pesto in the a deli or supermarket!)
23 cm loose based tin.
Preheat the oven gas mark 5 or 190 degrees.
Firstly I like to slightly take some moisture out of the tomatoes, so in Provence would place the sliced tomatoes in the sun to slightly dry. Sadly that probably isnt too realistic in Blighty, so pop them on a greased baking tray in the oven for 30 minutes or so, (keep an eye on them) just to dry a bit.
If you want to make the pesto, whizz up the toasted pinenuts with the roughly grated cheeses, until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the basil along with the salt and pepper, roughly whizz and then dribble into the machine the olive oil. You may not need all of it, just until it comes tougher and is smooth and not super thick and gorgeously green.
Slice the red onions, and slowly fry them in 2 tbsp olive oil, over a low heat for approximately 20 minutes or until completely soft, not browned, and caramelised - add the sugar, salt and pepper half way through.
Roll the pastry out and bake blind for around 15 minutes until slightly golden. Remove from the oven and then I like to seal the base with beaten egg and returned to the oven for another couple of minutes.. it just ensures you don’t have a soggy bottom! But not essential if you cant be bother.
Scatter the caramelised onions on the base with small dollops of pesto, evenly spaced and then layer the tomatoes on top.
Drizzle with the remaining olive oil, season and bake for around 35 minutes. Take it out of the oven and let it cool for around 15 minutes, sprinkle some parmesan shavings and torn basil leaves on the top and serve - see how much is left at the end!