Recipe

Tomato & chorizo tart

This tart can be served as a light meal or as a savoury tart at teatime. The pastry can also be used for many other recipes. Chorizo has a very specific flavour, but is works very well with tomatoes.

Recipe from Make Five/Maak vyf
Serves 4 – 6

Ingredients

Pastry

375 ml (1½ cup) cake flour

75 ml (5 tbsp) cold butter, cubed

50 ml finely grated pecorino cheese

10 ml (2 tsp) chopped fresh rosemary

125 ml (½ cup) smooth cottage cheese

1 egg, beaten

Filling

10 ml (2 tsp) olive oil

100 g chorizo or any other spicy sausage, sliced

400 g cherry tomatoes, halved

5 ml (1 tsp) chopped fresh rosemary

2,5 ml (½ tsp) smoked paprika or 5 ml (1 tsp) ordinary paprika

pepper

50 ml coarsely grated pecorino cheese

Method

1. Pastry: Place flour, butter, cheese and rosemary in a food processor and blend until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add cottage cheese and egg and mix until it forms a ball soft of pastry.
2. Gently press pastry into a circle the size of a side plate, and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Filling: Heat a thin layer of oil in a frying pan over medium heat and fry sausage for a few minutes or until aromatic. Remember that the sausage is quite fatty, so oil may not be necessary. Add tomatoes and sauté until the skins begin to burst.
4. Stir in the rosemary and paprika and season to taste with pepper. The sausages are quite salty, so salt is really not necessary. Reduce the heat, cover with a lid and simmer for 5 minutes so that the tomatoes form a sauce. Spoon out and allow to cool.
5. Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Spoon filling into a 22 cm, shallow tart dish and sprinkle with cheese.
6. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out pastry into a circle that is big enough to overlap the edges of the tart dish. Place pastry over the filling and fold in, in between the filling and the dish.
7. Bake for 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Allow to stand for a few minutes until the sauce as been absorbed a bit.
8. Place a plate over the tart dish and turn out in one quick turn. The pastry will now be on the bottom, with the tomato filling on top. Serve as a light meal with a green salad.

Tips

1. If chorizo is not available, use 125 g bacon. Halve and pit 8-10 olives and add to the filling.
2. The pastry freezes very well. Make a double batch and freeze the rest for later. Defrost overnight in the fridge and use as needed.
3. Cut the pastry into strips, twist and place on a baking tray. Bake at 200 °C for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Serve as cheese straws with drinks or a cocktail. You could even sprinkle a little extra rosemary over them before baking.
4. Make a sweet pastry: Leave out the cheese and herbs and add 30 ml (2 tbsp) soft brown sugar.

Image by Neville Lockhart.