I bought myself a present.  There is no justification for that other than I saw, I wanted .. and I bought.

I like to think I economised because I bought the smaller of the two sizes available which was cheaper, but it was probably a false economy because I now know I need the bigger one.  (We can pause here and discuss how irritating the sizing of bakeware is.  I’m happy to go metric or imperial but it would be really helpful if we’d make a decision …!)

Coincidentally, I also bought a bumper box of tomatoes at the market and immediately set about playing.

As a child, grilled tomatoes on toast was one of my favourite breakfasts – and my love for it made it just a short step to putting them on flaky puff pastry for lunch.  There was a short hiatus after an unfortunate .. incident whilst pregnant with Dominic.  Probably too much information to share on a foodie blog, b-but … tomatoes are quite acidic.  The Duchess of Cambridge and I have both experienced hyperemesis gravidarum.  I’ll let you google that.

I’m over it now.

Cut the tomatoes in half through the core.  If you cut the other way you’ll end up with half your tomatoes having a dot in the centre when you flip your  finished tart out.  It will taste exactly the same, but it won’t be as pretty.  And, yes, pretty matters.

For my 8″ tin, I used 9 medium sized tomatoes.

50ml of olive oil (that’s about 4 tablespoons).  Add 1 tablespoon of dried oregano.  Marjoram is also lovely.

Microplane 2 cloves of garlic (or chop finely) and add to the oil and dried oregano.  Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Lay the tomato halves cut side up on a baking sheet.  Then pour and dab the garlicky/herby/oil between the tomato halves.

Mine went into the Roasting Oven fourth set of runners for 1 hour until they were soft, slightly shrunk but not coloured.  In a conventional oven I would bake at 160ºC/325ºF/Gas Mark 3 for about an hour and half.  It will depend on how big your tomatoes are.

Lightly brush your tarte tatin dish with olive oil and arrange the tomato halves.  Make sure the cut side is facing upwards.  It’s the same principal as the pineapple upside-down-cake you probably made at school.

Squeeze them in closely.  Any gaps will spoil the effect.  Then set aside to cool.  That bit’s important.  If the tomatoes are warm when you add the puff pastry the butter will start to melt and you’ll have much less puff.

If you are using bought puff pastry – use an all-butter one.  You can  console yourself with the thought it has far less butter in it than if you use home-made ..

Roll out to something between 3mm and 5mm.  Cut around the rim of the tarte tatin tin.

While the tomatoes are chilling, place the pastry circle back into the fridge.  I use the base of a flan tin.  (Don’t waste any of the off-cuts, but don’t scrunch them up as you would shortcrust.  Fold the pieces on top of each other so you don’t interfere with all the layers and use it to make cheese straws.)

Now would be the time to increase the oven temperature to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas Mark 6.

Place the pastry circle on top of the cold tomatoes.  Carefully tuck the pastry down the sides so it hugs the tomatoes.

Mine went in to the Roasting Oven fourth set of runners for 20 minutes.

At 200ºC/400ºF/Gas Mark 6 it will also take 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.  Just loosen the edges if it has caught anywhere.

Place a cooling rack over the tarte tatin tin and flip it over.  I have a baking sheet underneath to catch any escaping juices.

Then allow it to cool.

It can be served warm or at room temperature.  Grind over some black pepper.  Decorate with basil leaves.

Eat.

Tomato Tarte Tatin

Serves 4

• 9 medium sized tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves, microplaned or chopped finely
• 1 tablespoon of dried oregano
• 50g/4 tablespoons of olive oil
• 250g home-made or all-butter puff pastry
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• To serve:  fresh basil leaves and a lightly dressed baby-leaf salad

Pre-heat the oven to 160ºC/325ºF/Gas Mark 3 and lightly grease an 8″ tarte tatin tin.

Cut the tomatoes in half through the core.  Lay them on a baking sheet, cut side facing upwards.

Add the microplaned garlic and the dried oregano to the olive oil.  Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Drizzle the mixture over the cut surface of the tomatoes.  Bake for about 1½ hours.  Aga:  Roasting Oven, fourth set of runners, for 1 hour.

Roll out the puff pastry to a 5mm thickness and cut around the rim of the tarte tatin dish.  Arrange the tomatoes, cut side facing upwards, in the tarte tatin tin.  Chill both the tomatoes and the pastry.

Increase the oven temperature to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas Mark 6.

Lay the pastry over the tomatoes and tuck the edges down the sides.  Bake for 20 minutes.

Allow to settle for 5 minutes before flipping over on to a cooling rack.

Serve warm or at room temperature with a grinding of black pepper, some basil leaves and a lightly dressed baby-leaf salad.

Eat.

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