Tomato Tarte Tatin Recipe With Balsamic Caramel

I adore Tarte Tatin, a classic dessert typically made with apples. But I’m also a huge fan of tarte tatins made with other fruits (such as flat peaches). My latest obsession is Tomato Tarte Tatin, made with the beautiful British-grown tomatoes I’ve been enjoying recently.

Tomato Tarte Tatin

I’ve used a mix of varietes that are red, orangey-brown, yellow, and green when ripe, but this recipe works just as well with a single kind. I do recommend using small tomatoes, from little cherry varieties up to 4 cm or so in size.

Tomato Tarte Tatin

Tomato Tarte Tatin
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5 from 11 votes

Tomato Tarte Tatin

Whilst it's not quite as classic as a traditional (apple) tarte tatin, the tomato version has many fans. The tart sweetness of tomatoes marries beautifully with caramel and pastry in this wonderful upside-down dish. 
Servings 4 as a starter, 2 as a main

Ingredients

For the caramel

  • 30 grams butter
  • 30 grams sugar
  • 30 ml balsamic vinegar

For the tart

  • 5-6 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 400-450 grams small fresh tomatoes
  • 320 grams packet ready-made all butter puff pastry (we buy ready-rolled)

Notes

We use an oven-proof 28 cm diameter saute pan with a removable handle, which allows us to cook the caramel on the stove, assemble the tarte directly into the sme pan, and transfer into the oven. If you don't have a suitable pan to do this, make your caramel in a saucepan and pour it into a flan dish or casserole dish before continuing. 
You can substitute the thyme for rosemary, in which case pick the leaves off the rosemary stems. We use fresh herbs, but if you want to use dried do reduce the amounts. Herbs de Provence is also a good option if using dried. 
You will have scraps of puff pastry left over. Use these to make arlette biscuits, cheese straws, cinnamon or chocolate hazelnut pinwheels, or jam turnovers. 

Instructions

  • Halve the tomatoes, and place onto a plate a little larger than the base of the pan you are using for your tarte tatin. This makes it easier to check you have enough tomatoes to cover the base of the pan. 
    Preparing tomatoes for Tomato Tarte Tatin
  • Preheat oven to 200 C (180 C fan).
  • Heat the butter, sugar and balsamic vinegar on a medium heat until all the ingredients melt into a homogenous caramel sauce.
  • Remove from the heat. Spread the sprigs of thyme over the caramel.
    Caramel and thyme for Tomato Tarte Tatin
  • Place the tomatoes skin-side down into the caramel, snug up against each other. If using different varieties, take a little time to spread out the different types around the pan.
    Placing tomatoes into pan for Tomato Tarte Tatin
  • Roll out the puff pastry (if not using ready-rolled), and cut a suitably sized circle, a little larger than the size of the base of your pan. Place the pastry over the tomatoes and tuck down around the edges. Cut four or five small slits in the pastry, to allow steam to escape during cooking. 
    Laying pastry into pan for Tomato Tarte Tatin
  • Transfer to the oven for 25-35 minutes. From the 25 minute mark, check every 5 minutes, continuing to bake until the top of the pastry turns golden brown. Remove from the oven.
    Baked Tomato Tarte Tatin
  • Whilst the caramel is still hot and melted, place a large plate inside the pan (one that is large enough to fit snuggly to the edges of the pan). Using oven gloves, firmly grasp pan and plate and flip both over, placing them down onto a trivet or cork mat. 
  • Lift the pan away from the plate. With luck, all your tomatoes will come cleanly away from the base of the pan, but if one or two are left in the pan, use a spoon to gently transfer them to their rightful place on top of the tarte. 
    Tomato Tarte Tatin
  • Serve straight away.

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Tomato Tarte Tatin

Submitting this to cookblogshare week 30.

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44 Comments to "Tomato Tarte Tatin Recipe With Balsamic Caramel"

  1. Kaveyeats

    When I make something new I like to have step by step pics so I try and offer those where I think they could be useful!

    Reply
  2. Chloe Edges

    Ok next time I have some good tomatoes, this is so happening! Tart tatin is one of my faves but I hate apples so I’ll make it with anything but!

    Reply
  3. Amy D

    This recipe looks so divine! I love tomato anything and have a ton in my garden that are ready for the picking!!

    Reply
  4. Michèle

    This was delicious but the tomatoes didn’t stay on the tart I had to scrape them up after I had turned out the tart. Any suggestions as to how to stop them sticking?

    Reply
    Kaveyeats

    I haven’t had it happen with this recipe as we always turn the tart straight out of the oven while the caramel is still loose from the heat. But when I used to make peach tarte tatin, that happened more when I waited to turn out the tart from the pan. Occasionally it can happen that the caramel just thickens so much in cooking that it welds the fruit to the pan and a gentle spatula gets the errant fruits out. I recommend a heavy-based dish, that helps too. Glad you loved the flavours! Hope the naughty stuck tomatoes didn’t spoil it too much!😘

    Reply
  5. kaveyeats

    Yes we’ve made it with them several times as well as with home grown and regular supermarket ones.

    Reply
  6. Renu

    Wow I had a puff pastry in freezer and was thinking what to do . Love this with tomatoes, perfect treat for my family

    Reply
  7. Kat

    Tomatoes and balsamic are one of my favourite combinations, this looks mouth wateringly good!

    Reply
  8. kaveyeats

    Thanks, perfect for when they area in season and you have lots of them to enjoy!

    Reply
  9. Michelle Rolfe

    Wow – the perfect way to celebrate tomatoes – I have a severe week spot for tomatoes in all forms but with pastry…mmm! Thanks for linking up to #CookBlogShare. Michelle x

    Reply
  10. Paula McKinnon

    Fantastic!! Daughter and her husband brought it to me on my birthday. Can’t wait to make it!

    Reply
  11. Pam

    Made this a couple times and love it but there is too much liquid from tomatoes after I flip it. Should I make the balsamic caramel thicker?

    Reply
    kaveyeats

    A few thoughts…
    1), try leaving it a short time in the pan to cool off just a little (and thicken in the process) before flipping. Not too long as you don’t want it to harden and stick to the pan…
    2) when you make the caramel, as you suggest, cook it a little longer so that it’s thicker
    3) try using a little less – we do like a fair bit of it on our tarte, but it’s totally fine if you’d prefer less!
    Good luck!

    Reply
    Pam

    Tried your suggestions. Made 3 tarts today for a party and it came out perfect! Thanks

    Reply
    kaveyeats

    That’s wonderful, so pleased.🥰
    Which of the suggestions was the one that your applied?

    Reply

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