TOMATO TATIN

Posted in Savory Pies, Small Dishes, Vegetarian-friendly by

One of my favorite desserts is the classic Tarte Tatin, a delicious upside-down apple pie originated in France in the 1880’s. I made it quite a few times before my blogging days, and often tell myself that I should bake one “for the blog.” You know, I am unselfish that way. But after reading a cooking forum in which people raved about a savory version of the classic, I had to make it. Roasted tomatoes with a touch of herbs and cheese are covered with a buttery dough, baked, and inverted on a platter for a stunning presentation… If some tomatoes  stick to the pan, no need to use crass language, gently scoop them out and coach them into the original position. After all, it is supposed to be rustic, so small boo-boos are forgiven…

Tomato Tatin
TOMATO TATIN
(adapted from Whip +  Click)

for the dough:
205 grams (1+1/3 cup) flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
118 grams (8 tablespoons) chilled butter, cut into cubes
1 egg

for the filling:
940 grams (2 pounds) plum tomatoes
olive oil
Herbes de Provence to taste
sea salt and pepper to taste
1 large leek, washed and thinly sliced
grated Parmigiano cheese

Make the dough: Sift the flour into a bowl. Add salt and cubed butter and work into the flour with your fingers until the butter pieces are no bigger than lentil size. Add the egg and mix until just combined. If it is too dry, add cold water one teaspoon at a time. Chill for 30 minutes.

Prepare the leeks. By sautéing the slices in a little olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Cook it in a very low heat, stirring often until golden brown. Reserve.

Heat the oven at 350 F. Cut tomatoes in half, core and remove the seeds. Coat the bottom of a 10 inch round dish with olive oil and place the tomatoes skin side down all around the pan. Season with salt, pepper, herbes de Provence and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until soft.

Before you take out the tomatoes, roll out your dough to a 10 inch round. Spread the leeks on top of the tomatoes, then add an even layer of grated parmesan. Add the dough on top and tuck the edges in. Bake for another 30 minutes or until the dough is golden brown. To unmold, run a knife around the edges and flip onto a serving dish.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

composite
Comments: This was my first time making this recipe, and I think there is room for improvement. I added a little bit too much olive oil to the tomatoes before placing the dough on top, and the dough itself turned out a tad too oily for my taste.  I also think that for the size of my pan, one or even two more tomatoes cut up would have been better.  They shrink a little during roasting, keep that in mind when you make it and aim for full coverage of the pan. I hope you do try this recipe, by the way. It is very elegant and quite simple to prepare. Perfect to open a dinner as a first course, or to serve for brunch. It is nice at room temperature too, making it possible to prepare it in advance. My kind of recipe, all the way.  I intend to try a lighter version using phyllo dough just for fun… What do you think?

ONE YEAR AGO: Headed to Colorado!  (and there we are again this year…  😉

TWO YEARS AGO: Farofa Brasileira

THREE  YEARS AGO: Thai-Inspired Pork Tenderloin

FOUR YEARS AGO: A yummy Brazilian cake: Bolo de Fuba’

FIVE YEARS AGO:  Summer’s Tomatoes

SIX YEARS AGO: Leaving on a jet plane… 

25 thoughts on “TOMATO TATIN”

  1. This is right up my alley and I have no doubt we’ll have several tomatoes waiting for us at home. This recipe will be perfect! Thinking of you enjoying the CO sunrise today. Our trip went way too fast. It’s hard to beat a mountain morning!

    Like

    Reply

    • The meteor shower last night… unforgettable! I hope you got to see it where you are… the kids would love it, I am sure! We have today and tomorrow to enjoy CO – Breckenridge is such a cute little town, we went there yesterday. Today we might drive to Vail for a quick visit. Tomorrow golf… HA! Which pose should I go for? Twisted Half Moon? 😉

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • hello there, Mr. Iron Man! Hope your trip is going smoothly…. I am thinking of trying to paleolize the dough in a future adventure…. a bit at a loss about what to do, but I have enough cookbooks to help me out… so many recipes, so little time!

      Like

      Reply

    • We go through a lot of tomatoes, mostly just sliced, salt, pepper, not much else. Usually with some sliced avocado and lemon juice – so simple and delicious, but this Tatin was a nice way to do something different…

      Like

      Reply

  11. Hi Sally, How are you? Enjoying your summer so far? A part from the occasional complaint about the hot CA weather and the drought issue, I am doing well. Thank you for asking :). It was so sweet of you to drop me a line. I’ll be back soon cooking, baking and share it on FB.

    This year I did not plant anything in my veggy garden. So I have to buy tomatoes from the market. If the weather not too hot, I’d go to farmers market to get it. Tomato tatin sounds perfect to use all of those sweet tomatoes that available now.

    Like

    Reply

  12. lovely tarte tatin Sally! Although it doesn’t seem to have much to do with me, our garden continues to produce tomatoes at a rate that we can barely keep up with – I need all the ideas I can get and this one looks so yum. Simple and perfect (I would just need to add piles of fresh garlic 😉 ).

    Like

    Reply

Click here to comment, love to hear from you!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.