From River Cottage Veg by Hugh Fearnley-Whittinstall
I find many recipes in this book which are well suited for our weekly box. Hugh Fearnley-Whittinstall almost always offers several options for variations on the recipes. This one is a great example, as the original recipe was with thyme and goat cheese. But this week we have chives in the box, and he had this version listed under “variations”. I highly recommend this book, as it makes cooking with vegetables quite easy (particularly if you don’t want to spend oodles of time in the kitchen).
A little Sunflower Oil
1/2 tsp fine Cornmeal or Polenta (optional)
13 oz of ready-made Puff Pastry
1 Eatwell Farm Egg
About 3/4 lb of Shady Lady Tomatoes
Sea Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
1 Garlic clove, finely chopped
A little Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Crumbled Blue Cheese
Chives, chopped fine
Preheat oven to 375 F. Lightly oil a baking sheet and scatter over a little fine cornmeal or polenta, if you have some - this helps to keep the pastry really crisp. Roll out the pastry fairly thinly and trim to a rectangle measuring about 10 by 12 inches. Put it on the baking sheet. Cut a 1/2” strip from each edge. Brush these strips with a little beaten egg, then stick them onto the edges of the rectangle to form a slightly raised border. Brush the edges with a little more egg. Thinly slice the tomatoes crosswise into 1/8” slices, and discard the stalky top and skinny bottom slices. Scatter the garlic over the pastry. Then arrange the tomato slices on top, overlapping them only slightly. Season with salt and pepper and trickle with a little oil. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the tomatoes are tender and lightly browned. Take the tart out of the oven, scatter over the blue cheese, add another twist of pepper and a trickle of oil, and return to the oven. Bake for another 10 minutes or so, until the cheese is melty and bubbly and the pastry golden brown. Scatter the chives over the hot tart. You can serve it hot or better yet, wait half an hour.