A Sweet Tomato and Strawberry Tart
Dessert · Ginger and Nutmeg · Pies & Tarts · Provencal Recipes · TasteChef 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
Tarte aux fraises, tomates confites et tapenade olives noires - a pastry base with sweet tomatoes, strawberries and fennel tapenade. This dessert does have several components, but in the end it is not complicated. The mixture of ingredients may seem strange, the result is sublime. Our dish was garnished with vanilla ice cream, which is optional, but certainly did not take away from the lovely result.
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
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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