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.