Tomato Tarte Tatin

Tomatoes – the true gems of the season – are the focus here.

This amazing tarte with tomatoes & basil pesto is exactly what you need for summer evenings! The compination of juicy tomatoes with fresh basil pesto is awesome! Also, the salty feta cheese and just a touch of fresh thyme, they give to the tarte the umami flavor! All this atop a flaky puff pastry crust – it’s no wonder this recipe will be a crowd – pleaser.

I create this for you, so, the only thing you have to do is to make the tarte, invite your friends and enjoy! This tarte tatin is so pretty and delicious that it’s guaranteed to receive applause at the table.

What is Tarte Tatin?

The tarte Tatin was created accidentally at the Hôtel Tatin in Lamotte-Beuvron, Loir-et-Cher, 169 km (105 mi) south of Paris, in the 1880s. The hotel was run by two sisters, Stéphanie and Caroline Tatin. There are conflicting stories concerning the tart’s origin, but the most common is that Stéphanie Tatin, who did most of the cooking, was overworked one day. She started to make a traditional apple pie but left the apples cooking in butter and sugar for too long. Smelling the burning, she tried to rescue the dish by putting the pastry base on top of the pan of apples, quickly finishing the cooking by putting the whole pan in the oven. After turning out the upside down tart, she was surprised to find how much the hotel guests appreciated the dessert! This tarte became a signature dish of the Hôtel Tatin. It has spread to other countries over the years and there are so many ways to make it, that’s depends on the season!

Ingredients:

3 red tomatoes
10 cherry tomatoes
4 cloves of garlic
fresh thyme
sea salt
oregano
sugar
freshly ground black pepper
a bit of aged aromatic balsamic
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed but still cold
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese
1/3 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
30 gr. feta cheese

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 180° C.
Cut all tomatoes in slices and remove their seeds. Leave them drain. We don’t want extra liquids in our tarte.
Prepare the basil pesto: Place the basil leaves, 2 cloves of garlic and pine nuts into the bowl of a food processor and pulse several times. Then, add the garlic and cheese, pulse again. Scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. While the food processor is running, add the olive oil slowly. Stop the food processor, when you have a smooth green paste and stir in salt and freshly ground black pepper, add more to taste.
Then, marinate the tomatoes with olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, oregano, sugar, garlic, fresh thyme. In medium heat, put them in a pan and cook them with a bit of aged aromatic vinegar. When the tomatoes become glazed, remove the pan from the heat and let the tomatoes cool. Prepare a baking pan with parchment paper and place the puff pastry and spread over the basil pesto.
Use your fingers to gently return the tomatoes to the puff pastry, leave any juices that have collected behind and sprinkle the thyme over the tomatoes along with another big pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper.
Bake for 25- 30 minutes to 180° C. Remove from the oven and garnish with feta cheese and fresh basil leaves. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Tip: The juices of glazed tomatoes (you have already collected) mixed with greek yogurt make the perfect accompaniment to tarte tatin! Voila!