I forget where we came across this recipe, it was in some magazine or other, and I’m pretty sure it used to be on the Good Food website, but alas, it appears to have vanished. This is a nice, easy, fresh, vegetarian, summery tart… we tend to make it and eat it over a few days. It’s equally good cold, or reheated.

The higher quality the tomatoes the better… standard ones will work fine, but you will notice the difference.

Tomato and pesto tart
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients

1 x 375g pack ready-made puff pastry
150g mascarpone
50g grated parmesan
3 tablespoons pesto
6 decent sized fresh ripe tomatoes

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°c/180°c fan. Line a 20x30cm baking tray with greaseproof paper. Roll out the pastry and lay it on the baking tray. Roll over the edges of the pastry to make a small lip.

Mix the mascarpone with the pesto and grated parmesan. Season it, and then spread it over the pastry, leaving a small border of 3-5 cm.

Top and tail the tomatoes. (If you’re anything like me, they’re too good to waste. I tend to leave them to the end, grate a tiny bit of salt and pepper on them and eat them before the wife notices… it’s the simple pleasures…) Slice the tomatoes and lay them on the pastry, slightly overlapping. If you’re feeling a little OCD, you may want to try to get the lines and seeds facing the same way!

Drizzle with olive oil and season. Then bake in the middle of the oven for approximately 40 mins.

Turn the oven down to 150°c/140°c and bake for another 30-40 mins until the pastry is golden and the tomatoes crimson. If it’s beginning to burn, you may want to cover it with foil, and if you’re planning to reheat it the next day, I’d recommend not cooking it for quite the full time.

Serve with a green salad! Beautiful!