For company
Provençal tart
A light, sunny tart that feeds a crowd. Sweet tomatoes, briny black olives and herbes de Provence on buttery pastry — pure southern France.
Use the ripest tomatoes you can find. Puff pastry is a perfectly acceptable shortcut.
Method
- 01
Heat the oven to 200°C fan. Unroll the pastry onto a lined baking tray and score a 2cm border all the way around, pricking the inner rectangle lightly with a fork. Chill while you prepare the filling.
- 02
Warm 2 tbsp olive oil in a large pan over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook slowly for 15–20 minutes until soft, golden and sweet. Add the garlic for the final minute.
- 03
Spread the mustard over the pastry base, keeping inside the border. Scatter over the caramelised onions, then layer the tomatoes in overlapping rows. Tuck in the olives and crumble over the cheese if using.
- 04
Drizzle with the remaining olive oil, scatter with herbes de Provence and season generously with salt and pepper.
- 05
Bake for 25–30 minutes until the pastry is puffed and golden at the edges and the tomatoes are blistered and jammy.
- 06
Cool for 5 minutes, scatter with fresh basil or thyme, drizzle with a little more olive oil and cut into rectangles. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Keep cooking
