Tomato Tart

Earlier today, I walked into my mother's kitchen to see freshly washed tomatoes, peeled shallots and a bunch of curry leaves. What else would I do but take a picture and share it on Facebook? And that my dear friends, was the beginning. When questions were asked as to what I was making, I said tomato tart cos I had this French Tomato Tart by David Lebovitz at the back of my mind. But I was wondering how to explain the curry leaves in the pic in a 'french' tomato tart when my cousin came up with a wonderful idea. It involved all the things in the picture plus some coconut cream, mustard and cheese. Now which self respecting person can ignore such an interesting combination of flavours? And thus 'The not so French Tomato Tart' was born.



I had a pre-baked 7"inch pastry crust I used. But you can easily make one in no time.

Ingredients

Crust

150g          Plain flour/maida
100g          Cold Salted Butter diced
4tbsp         Cold water

Filling (for 7")

4               Shallots
2               Tomatoes
1Tbsp       Coconut cream
1Tbsp       Mustard
1/8tsp       Mustard seeds
6               Curry Leaves
1tbsp        Vegetable Oil
Cheese for topping (I used Mozzarella)

How

Crust

Rub in flour to the cold butter using fingers till it resembles bread crumbs.
Add water a tablespoon at a time till it all binds together.
Split into two, make two flat disks of the pastry. Cover in cling wrap and chill for half an hour.
Roll out one disk to the size of the tart tin and trim the edges. Gently prick the bottom of the tart base uniformly with a fork all over. (This is to prevent bubbling and I find it easier than blind baking cos I never seem to have beans)
Bake in pre-heated oven at 180C for 30 mins or till crust turns crisp and slightly brown.

Filling

Slice the shallots and tomatoes into thin circles.
Gently fry the shallots in a wok till translucent. Remove shallots and temper mustard seeds in the same oil. Add curry leaves. Do not let it brown
In a bowl mix coconut cream & mustard well. Smear this over the tart base.
Sprinkle the shallots over this. Arrange tomatoes in a circle.
Place small slices of cheese on the tomatoes, covering a third of the tart. Pour the tempered mustard seeds and curry leaves on top.
Bake at 180C for 30 mins

Voila! The tart is ready.

* For a 9" tart, just multiply the ingredients by 1.5. Should work.
* I might make this again tomorrow. I really liked it. And then you might get a better picture tomorrow :-)