A Sweet Tomato and Strawberry Tart
Chef Eric Sapet of La Petite Maison in Cucuron is a master. Combining tomatoes, black olives and strawberries into a sweet and savoury dessert is certainly uncommon – the result is excellent. Due to a wedding cancellation only a few days before the event, a lucky group of foodies received an email invitation to participate in a rare Saturday morning cooking class. La Petite Maison de Cucuron is a successful restaurant run by chef Eric Sapet and his lovely wife. They offer a top-quality seasonal menu and limited cooking classes…continue reading here for details on the cooking class.
Tarte aux fraises, tomates confites et tapenade olives noires
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 package phyllo pastry or pâte feuilletée
- 1/2 cup (100g) butter Melted
- 3/4 cup (150g) sugar
- 6 medium tomatoes Roma tomatoes work as well
- 4 cups (1L) water
- 2 whole fennel bulbs chopped
- 1/4 cup (50g) olive oil
- 1/3 cup (75g) black olive tapenade
- 1 basket strawberries
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
The Tomatoes
- Start with the tomatoes, wash and cut in slices of roughly equal sizes
- Remove the seeds from the tomato slices
- Heat the water with ¼ cup of sugar, the sugar should be dissolved and the water hot but not boiling
- Place the tomatoes in the water and cook for a minute
- Remove from the water and then return the tomatoes to the water
- Repeat twice more (the tomatoes should be bathed three times)
The Pastry
- Take one sheet of filo at a time, butter lightly with melted butter, sprinkle with sugar and lightly salt
- Place each sheet on top of the last one until you have 5 sheets
- Cut 6 circles of approximately 8cm (3 inches) in diameter
- Place on a baking sheet with a cooling rack over the top (allows cooking and each circle will rise equally)
- Bake in the oven at 320 degrees (160C) until lightly browned
The Tapenade
- Cut the fennel bulbs into small pieces
- In a heavy pot cook the fennel pieces in a mixture of water, salt, sugar (1/4 cup) and olive oil, until softened and caramelized
- Add the tapenade and mix well
The Presentation
- Wash and cut the strawberries
- Use half of the strawberries and blend to create a coulis 17. Take one pastry round per dish, place in the bottom
- On top of the pastry place two tomato slices
- Top with fennel tapenade
- Garnish with strawberries and the coulis
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