Provençal Tomato Tart (Galette à la Tomate)

Perhaps the easiest foray you could make into making pastry, this free-form tomato tart from the South of France combines lush summer tomatoes with a savoury layer of cheese.

The term ‘galette’ in French is pretty general, meaning any sort of round-shaped pastry, sweet or savoury. This particular style of galette is popular throughout France and is a favourite in home kitchens due to its fancy-free, rustic style of preparation. This is a dream to make if you are fearful of pastry! There is no blind-baking or precision trimming. Instead, the pastry is baked free-form and guarantees you a crisp bottom with no shrinking. Frankly, this pastry can shrink all it wants, so it doesn’t matter if you slightly overwork the dough or if you have naturally hot hands. A galette makes a brilliant frame, quite literally, for almost any seasonal produce, but one of the best ways to adventure into this style of pastry is using summer tomatoes. Use the nicest cherry tomatoes you can find, which will be enhanced with a flavourful marinade of garlic, mustard and dried herbs. A hearty base of cheese helps in this tart too - feel free to use a soft cheese like cream cheese or creamy chèvre (goats cheese) or use a grated gruyère or comté. Plenty of flavourful options for this one! Let’s go!

INGREDIENTS (serves 6x)

PASTRY

• 200g plain flour

• 90g butter, chilled

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 large egg, beaten

TOMATO FILLING

• 80g cream cheese or soft goats cheese (chèvre) - or grated gruyère/comté

• 200g cherry tomatoes, halved

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1x garlic clove, grated

• 1 tsp Dijon mustard

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp black pepper

• 1/2 tsp sugar

• 1 tsp lemon juice

• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs or herbes du Provence

WALKTHROUGH

1. First, let’s make the pastry. Add the 200g plain flour to a mixing bowl along with 1 tsp of salt. Grate the 90g of chilled butter into the bowl and rub it with your fingers until the flour is coated and no lumps of butter remain.

   

   

2. Add the large beaten egg to the dry mixture and mix with a blunt knife until a cohesive dough forms. It will seem dry at first, but continue mixing until it comes together. Knead the dough slightly for 10-20 seconds to build some structure. Wrap it in cling film or baking paper and place it in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.

   

   

3. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Line a baking tray with a sheet of baking paper and set it aside.

4. Meanwhile, let’s prepare the filling. In a mixing bowl, combine the 200g halved cherry tomatoes with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 1x grated garlic clove, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp of lemon juice and 1 tsp of dried, mixed herbs. Mix gently until the tomatoes are coated in the seasonings, then set them aside.

   

5. Now let’s prepare the tart. Remove the pastry from the fridge and let it come up to room temperature for 5 minutes. Place it onto a floured counter and roll it out to form a roughly circular shape, at least 30cm across. Don’t worry if the outer edges are cracked and jagged, this is actually good. Transfer the pastry carefully to the lined baking tray.

   

6. Gently mark a rough 25cm/9-inch diameter circle in the middle of the pastry. Spread the 80g of cream cheese or goats cheese (or 100g grated gruyère/comté) across the circle to create a base. Add the tomatoes to the base along with any remaining juices in the bowl and arrange them within the circle.

   

   

7. Fold the outer lip of pastry back over onto the tomatoes, covering them only partially and leaving the centre exposed. Try and fold it in 6 sections to create a rough, pleated hexagonal shape.

   

   

8. Transfer the galette to the oven and bake it at 200C/400F for 30-40 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and the tomatoes are wrinkled and bronzed in the centre. Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool for 15 minutes.

   

9. Once cooled, you can slice and serve the galette on its own or serve it alongside a salad for a light lunch.