Recipe

Tomato, Mustard and Brie Tart

People are scared of tart.
Well, not necessarily scared of tart itself. But of making tart. Specifically, of making tart crust.

Nigella, Rachel and their alikes talk about how easy it is, and how it’s almost just as easy as buying one from the store. But people are terrified. For some reason, I found it so interesting that people are more intimidated by tart crust than they are of cooking a burfi (which according ot me is rocket science..!!!).

How do you feel about tart/pie crust? Are you comfortable, or terrified?

Regardless if you like to make your own crust or use the refrigerated kind, this tart is one that you don’t want to skip over. I came across the recipe while flipping through the pages of a book I recently picked from a book store, and I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind since.

I knew it sounded good and the pic in the book was delirious, but I was in love with the first bite. In fact, don’t tell, but I ate 1 1/2 pieces for lunch yesterday. I just couldnt’ stop myself!!
I literally flipped to the page with this recipe and just got stuck there. I didn’t have to look any further for my first choice from the cookbook. This was it. I knew I had tons of tomatoes, and I knew this would be a great way to use some of them up!

And I was right. How can you go wrong with a buttery, flaky crust filled with tomatoes and cheese? You can’t! (That is, unless you don’t like tomatoes, and if you don’t, I think you are crazy…) 

So, here's the recipe:

Recipe Rating: 9 out of 10

Ingredients:

185g Plain white flour or Maida

pinch of sea salt

90 g of butter, diced

1/2 cupv(125 ml) milk

2 egg yolks

1 clove garlic, crushed

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard (I substituted with dijon mustard sauce)

60 g cheddar, grated

4 tomatoes, sliced ( I personally always always prefer the country variety or what we call locally "naattu thakkali". Hybrids are so juicy and "tarty". Use what you can find.)

125 g brie, thinly sliced. (brie comes with a crust, i used it with that layer)

Herb Oil:

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh basil

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander

2 tbsp EVOO

Serves 4

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 190 degree C. Sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a large bowl. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add 2 tbsp of cold water and mix to a dough. Cover and refrigerate for 20 mins. Roll pastry to line a deep 8" metal tart tin. Chill for a further 10 mins.

2. Line the pastry with baking paper and baking beans, and bake blind for 12-15 mins. Carefully remove the paper and bake it for a further 10 mins. Keep it aside. Reduce the oven temperature to 180 degree C.

3. In a jug, place milk, egg yolks, garlic and seasoning. Whisk to combine. Spread the mustard sauce over the pastry base and sprinkle with cheddar. Arrange the tomatoes to fill the base and lay the brie slices over that. And pour the egg mixture. Bake for 30-35 mins, until just set and golden. In a small bowl combine the herb oil ingredients and drizzle generously over the tart. Serve warm.

If you do try this recipe, please let me know. Would love to hear your stories.