The inspiration
I came up with the idea for this tomato tarte tatin while researching my blog post Fear of Failure – How to Overcome it and Why You Should. The inspiration was the stories behind the origins of Worcestershire Sauce and the tarte tatin. (All is explained in my post!)
I’d never made it before and the pictures in this post are from my first attempt. In fact, it was my first go at any sort of tarte tatin! It’s not perfect but if I let my perfectionism get the better of me I’d never post this. And will have learnt nothing from my Fear of Failure post.
The pastry
I opted to use shortcrust pastry, mainly because I didn’t have any ready-made puff pastry. The shortcrust worked well though as it soaked up the juices. Puff pastry would be a great alternative, especially if you’d rather not make your own pastry.
The tomatoes
I used baby plum tomatoes and a mix of red and yellow, which added a nice colour contrast. Standard cherry tomatoes would work fine or any other type of small tomato. As the tomato is the star of the show, it pays flavour-wise to push the boat out slightly!
The Tabasco
When I tried the syrup before adding the tomatoes, I was a little worried I had overdone the Tabasco as it had quite a kick! But once the tart was cooked it balanced really nicely with the sweetness of the tomatoes. If you are not a fan of too much heat, you may want to reduce the amount of Tabasco slightly.
Finally, in the spirit of my fear of failure blog post, if the thought of having a go at this tomato tarte tatin scares you, just give it a go – what’s the worst that could happen?!
Bloody Mary Tomato Tarte Tatin
Equipment
- Oven-proof frying pan (20cm)
Ingredients
Pastry
- 220 g plain flour
- 110 g butter cold
- 1 pinch salt
- 3-4 tbsp cold water
Tomato Tart Filling
- 500g g tomatoes cherry or baby plum work well
- ½ tsp celery salt
- 30 g butter
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp Tabasco sauce
- 20 g caster sugar
Instructions
Make the pastry
- Put the flour and salt in a bowl and rub in the butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- Add the cold water a little at a time, until the pastry comes together in a ball.
- Lightly flatten the ball before wrapping in clingfilm and putting in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Prepare the tart filling
- Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/Gas 6.
- Add the Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, butter and sugar to the frying pan over a medium heat and bring to the boil.
- Let it bubble away for about five minutes or until it thickens and becomes syrupy.
- Take the chilled pastry from the fridge and roll out to the size of the outer edge of the frying pan. Aim for around 0.5cm thick.
- Add the tomatoes to the pan and sprinkle with the celery salt.
- Place the pastry on top of the tomatoes, tucking the pastry in around the edges. Prick the pastry with a fork in a few places.
- Place in the heated oven and cook for 30-35 minutes. The tart is ready when the pastry is golden in colour.
- Leave to cool for five minutes and then run a knife (or wooden skewer if you are worried about scratching your frying pan) around the edge of the pan to loosen the edges, if required.
- Place an inverted plate on top of the pan (make sure the plate is larger than the pan!) Take a deep breath and then flip the pan with confidence. Lift the pan and voilà! One Bloody Mary Tarte Tatin!
Notes
- If you shake the bowl, the larger unmixed bits of butter will come to the top so you can rub those in some more.
- The key to good pastry is keeping it cold so make sure the butter and water are nice and cold (and your hands too!)
- Don’t skip the refrigerating part – it helps prevent the pastry from shrinking.
- Reduce the amount of Tabasco to half a tablespoon if you like a milder Bloody Mary.
- Leaving the tart to cool before tipping it out allows the sauce to thicken slightly.
I'd love to hear your thoughts