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Tomato Tarte Tatin
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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)

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.

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.