“A cooked tomato is like a cooked oyster: ruined.”
Andre Simon (1877-1970), ‘The Concise Encyclopedia of Gastronomy’
During summer, I never run out of tomatoes. I´ve had a crush on them, a coup de coeur as they say here, ever since I was a little girl. It was a hot summer day in the late 1970ies when these love apples first put their spell on me. A friend had invited my parents to his house to gather cucumbers, beans and tomatoes from his vast vegetable garden, and I was with them as a little harvest hand. But one unobserved moment, before the picking even started, I had disappeared. The grown-ups would instantly look out for me, searching the garden, calling my name out loud – nothing. A few minutes passed… Then all of a sudden my mother spotted me: I was standing in the middle of the tomato vines, plucking and indulging on tomato after tomato, blissfully happy. A first summer love.
Still today, a perfectly ripe and sweet tomato is heaven to me, simply one of life´s greatest pleasures. Mostly, I enjoy them as they are, or as a tartine with a slice of bread and salted butter. But today, I was in the mood for a whole tomato meal, so I made this tomato tart which I thought was delicious.
Tomato tart (serves2-3 as a main dish, 4-6 as a starter):
230 g (8 oz) puff pastry
90 g (0.37 cups, 3.2 oz) soft goat´s cheese
1 tbsp mustard, preferrably tarragon mustard
650-700 g (about 4 cups) cherry tomatoes
30 g (2 tbsp) butter
25 g ( 2 tbsp) brown sugar
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
small handful chopped tarragon
baking 30-35 min 200°C/390°F
Preheat your oven.
Line a tart pan (26 cm/10 inch diameter; a pan with removable bottom or springform work best) with parchment paper and puff pastry. Create a rim that´s no higher than 2cm (0.8 inch). Prick with a fork, prebake for 7-8 minutes.
Stir together goat´s cheese and mustard, add chopped tarragon (reserve a few leaflets to sprinkle on top later).
Spread cheese mixture onto the prebaked pastry shell.
In a pan, melt butter over low to medium heat, add sugar. Don´t stir. After a few minutes of gently bubbling, the sugar will start to caramelize. Then add tomatoes, toss gently, cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add vinegar, reduce for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Arrange tomatoes on top of the goat´s cheese in a single layer.
Bake for another 30 minutes approximately.
Leave to slightly cool on a wire rack. Unmould, sprinkle with remaining tarragon, and serve warm (not hot, since it will have to set in order not to be soggy).
✷
Karamellisierte Tomatentarte
Wenn es irgendetwas gibt, auf das ich im Sommer nicht verzichten kann, dann sind das Tomaten. Man erzählt sich die Geschichte, daß ich als sehr kleines Kind einmal meinen Eltern, die gerade im weitläufigen Garten eines Freundes Gemüse ernteten, ausgebüchst und inmitten von Tomatenranken wieder aufgefunden worden bin, genussvoll und gedankenverloren meine kleine Ernte verzehrend. Der Beginn einer Sommerliebe, die bis heute hält, denn mein Herz schlägt noch immer höher, wenn ich in eine wunderbar süße, saftige Sommertomate hineinbeiße. Nicht umsonst heißen Tomaten in Frankreich auch pommes d´amour, Liebesäpfel.
Was die Verwendung in der Hobbyküche anbelangt, dann gibt es, wenn man obigem Zitat glauben darf, nur eine Möglichkeit, Tomaten zuzubereiten: nämlich gar nicht, es sei denn, als Salat. Und allermeistens esse ich Tomaten tatsächlich „nur so“ pur, oder vielleicht auf einer Scheibe Brot mit gesalzener Butter. Trotzdem hatte ich kürzlich mal Lust auf Tomate zum Sattwerden und habe diese Garte gebacken – sie hat mir sehr geschmeckt.
Tomatentarte (für 2-3 als Hauptgericht und 4-6 als Vorspeise):
230 g fertiger Blätterteig
90 g Ziegenfrischkäse
1 EL Senf, am besten Estragonsenf
650-700 g Kirschtomaten
30 g Butter
25 g brauner Zucker
2 EL Balsamicoessig
Salz und Pfeffer
etwas gehackter frischer Estragon
Backzeit 30-35 min 200°C
Ofen vorheizen.
Eine Tarteform (26 cm Durchmesser, am besten mit herausnehmbarem Boden oder eine Springform) mit Backpapier und Blätterteig auslegen. Einen ca. 2cm hohen Rand formen. Mit einer Gabel vielfach einstechen und 7-8 Minuten vorbacken.
Ziegenkäse mit Senf und dem gehackten Estragon vermischen, dabei ein paar Blättchen zum Dekorieren zurückbehalten. Auf dem vorgebackenen Blätterteig verteilen.
In einer großen Pfanne bei geringer bis mittlerer Hitze Butter zerlassen, Zucker zugeben und ohne Rühren innerhalb einiger Minuten karamellisieren lassen. Dann Tomaten dazugeben und vorsichtig in dem Karamell schwenken/wenden, etwa 5 Minuten lang. Die Tomaten sollen so gut es geht ihre Form behalten. Mit Essig ablöschen, 2 Minuten reduzieren und eindicken lassen. Salzen und pfeffern.
Tomatenmischung in einer Schicht auf dem Tarteboden anordnen.
Für ca. weitere 30 Minuten backen.
Auf einem Kuchengitter etwas abkühlen lassen, erst dann aus der Form nehmen. Warm servieren – nicht zu heiß, damit sich der Karamellüberzug wieder etwas verfestigen kann und es nicht zu flüssig und matschig wird. Mit restlichem Estragon bestreuen.
What a beautiful tart! I love tomatoes too, but only when they’re fresh and in season. I disagree with the quote though, sometimes cooking a tomato, especially like this in the oven brings out the juices in a way that is totally unparalleled. Yum!
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Thank you, I disagree, too, obviously ;-)!
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Zutaten aufgeschrieben, jetzt noch schnell einkaufen und dann gleich nachmachen. Man sieht das lecker aus!
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Ja, super! Würde mich freuen zu hören, ob es geklappt und geschmeckt hat!
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hat geklappt. Ging super einfach und schnell und am Tisch hörte man nur: “mhhhmmmmh ist das lecker!” Jegliches Tischgespräch erstarb darüber! Echt lecker!!!! Mach ich bald wieder!
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Ach toll, das freut mich wirklich riesig!
Hab ein schönes Wochenende, Sabine.
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Danke, du auch!
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How beautiful, Sabine and the best thing for a great summer. I love the small tomatoes here and the addition of tarragon. Mine is quite similar but with thyme and sliced toms but I am so switching to tarragon next time. Merci, an autre coup de coeur.
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Merci bien, chère Nicole! Hope you´ll like it. I´ll try thyme!
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This is beautiful! I’m going to give this a try in a couple weeks when the tomatoes really start to come in!
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I´d love you to, and I do hope you´ll like the recipe!
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Das sieht wirklich supergut aus! Ich verstehe Deine Liebe zu Tomaten sehr gut; am allerbesten schmecken die selbst angebauten direkt vom Strauch, süß, saftig und wunderbar aromatisch. Liebe Grüsse, Heike
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Selbst angebaut ist natürlich überhaupt nicht zu schlagen! Die hiesigen vom Markt sind allerdings ne gute Alternative. Hätte ich einen Tomatenstrauch, ich glaube kaum, daß es ein einziges Exemplar in die Küche schaffen würde 🙂
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Pour moi aussi les tomates sont mon coup de cœur de l’été. Je peux manger tous les jours. Ta tarte est divine! Parfait pour un jour ensoleillée d’été.
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Pas d´été sans tomates, n´est-ce pas? Merci de tes gentils mots, comme toujours, chère Eva!
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Oh, my! This sounds wonderful. I wonder at the level of sweetness with the brown sugar. I was slicing a tomato last night and could instantly smell the summer goodness of the tomato. They are in full swing here in Northern California. Happy weekend, Sabine.
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Angeline, I thought it was quite balanced with the vinegar and tart goat´s cheese, and made a nice caramelized coat for the tomatoes. I also added salt & pepper, so in the end it didn´t taste sweet- happy weekend!
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Yum. Loved the little tomato heart.
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😉 Thank you, I could´t resist using the photo!
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Beautiful
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Tomatoes…one of summer’s nicest pleasures. You tart looks delicious!
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Thank you, Karen! It´s no summer without tomatoes! Have a lovel weekend, Sabine
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Your tart looks so appetizing! The tomatoes are beautiful!
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Thank you, so glad you like it!
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So pretty! And I imagine it tasted as good as it looked!
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As a tomato lover, I´m biased, but I thought it was delicious 😉 Thank you for your lovely note, Sadie!
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I have serious tomato love too Sabine. There are fresh tasty tomatoes year round in Australia, even when it’s winter in the south it’s warm enough in the north for tomatoes to ripen to delicious sweetness up north. I’ll be trying your tart very soon! It sounds delicious…
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You make me want to move to Australia! Tomatoes won´t be the same here, I guess, once the weather turns colder. At least that´s how it was in Germany: tomatoes won´t have any flavor, poor watery things …but the more I enjoy them now!
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Oh, I cannot imagine that tomatoes can be use to make such a delicious cake ❤
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Yes, cherry tomatoes work great for this!
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Can I tell you a secret? I don’t really love raw tomatoes. I know! It’s heresy! But that tart? Perfect.
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🙂 My husband hates raw tomatoes , too, and guess what: He didn´t like the tart 🙂
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This caramelised tomato tart looks SO delicious. And beautifully captured too. I don’t think you can ever go wrong with sticky balsamic vinegar, tomatoes and goats cheese!
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I totally agree, it´s also one of my all time favorite combination of ingredients. Thank you for your lovely words, Thalia, and have a wonderful week! Sabine.
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That looks like a wonderful tart & I love all the vibrant colors! Just beautiful!
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Thank you, great you like it! Have a wonderful evening & greetings from Paris. Sabine.
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This tart looks delicious , I had my first tomato zucchini tart when I was in Paris and I loved it.
Have a wonderful week, Gerlinde
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That sounds wonderful, too! Thanks for being here, as always, and a lovely, wonderful week to you as well — Sabine.
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This and a green salad = a perfect lunch! Love your photos!
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Thank you, Mimi! I guess the tomatoes are so good these days, impossible to cook something not delicious from them!
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Such a gorgeous tomato tart! This would be a star of any table! So festive and pretty! I’m sure it tastes as delicious as it looks!
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thank you for your lovely words, Julia! I´m so glad you like the tart!
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WOW! This looks stunning AND delicious!
Congrats!
Cheers,
P&F
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The image of you lost in the tomato vineyards, stuffing your lil’ face with tomatoes is tres coote! I love tomatoes too and this looks like a dish after my own heart!
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It must have been exactly like that, my mother told me the story many times! Thank you for stopping by & have a wonderful remaining week!
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those little tomatoes look so plump and gorgeous – I can’t wait for summer to arrive so I can make this
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So glad you like the recipe, I so hope you will enjoy it!
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Wow, that is gorgeous! I’ve never seen anything like it!
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Thank you!!
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Looks delicious! Would it be possible to help me convert these to US measurements as I would love to be able to make this tart, and do not want to mess up with the conversions. Thank you so much!!
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Hello Lena, I just updated the post for you! Hope this helps. Enjoy the recipe! Many greetings from Paris, Sabine
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The recipes look fabulous. I look forward to trying some of them.
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Good morning Edie, and thank you so much for taking the time! A bientôt, see you soon! Sabine
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