Bright and colourful, this seasonal tart is a taste sensation

Make the most of the ripe seasonal tomatoes with this impressive tart

Deliciously seasonal. Tomatoes are at their best now. Photo: Guy Mirabella

From an early age, drawing and cooking have been a part of my daily routine. While my parents worked in their little fruit shop on Middleborough Road in Melbourne’s Box Hill, I was given coloured pencils and sheets of torn butcher’s paper used for wrapping produce to draw on, keeping me occupied and out of the way. Many decades later, I now visit my Nonno and Nonna’s graves across the road from our old shop.

Try too my lamb salad and chicken traybake.

This is an edited extract from Pranzo by Guy Mirabella (Hardie Grant, $60, available from Tuesday.) Photography by Guy Mirabella.

The tomatoes have it. Guy Mirabella’s tomato tart. Photos: Guy Mirabella.

This is an extract from Pranzo by Guy Mirabella (Hardie Grant $60).

Tomato tart

Ingredients

Sour cream pastry

• 200g salted butter, chilled
• 250g (1⅔ cups) plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 80ml (⅓ cup) sour cream

Filling

• 3 tablespoons mild olive oil
• 3 tablespoons white
• wine vinegar
• 3 shallots, chopped
• 2 eggs
• 150ml pure cream
• 1 spring onion, finely chopped
• 45g pecorino, freshly grated
• 200g smooth ricotta
• 200g (1 cup) mascarpone
• 100g baby English spinach leaves, sliced
• 30g (1 cup) basil leaves
• 1 tablespoon baby capers
• 500g cherry tomatoes, some halved but most left whole
• 125g (1 cup) pitted black olives
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Ingredients

1. To make the pastry, pulse the butter and flour in a food processor until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sour cream and pulse until the dough just comes together to form a ball. Press down on the dough to form a flat disc, then wrap it in cling wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Remove the pastry at least 20 minutes before using.
2. Grease the base and side of a 26cm fluted loose-based flan tin with butter and dust with flour. On a floured work surface, roll the pastry out to around 40cm in diameter and roughly 6mm thick. Line the prepared tin with the pastry, leaving it overhanging the edge. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 180C. Cover the pastry with aluminium foil and fill it with baking beads or dried beans. Bake for 20 minutes, remove the foil and beads, then bake for a further 5 minutes. Let the pie cool for 20 minutes, then trim the edge.
4. For the filling, heat the oil in a frying pan over a low heat, then add the vinegar and shallots. Fry until the shallots are translucent, about 8-10 minutes. Set aside.
5. Combine the eggs, cream, spring onion, pecorino, ricotta, mascarpone, spinach, basil and capers and salt and pepper in a large bowl and mix well.
6. Spread the shallots over the base, then add the cream mixture and top with the olives and half of the tomatoes. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the top is set and golden brown. Top with the remaining tomatoes. Allow the tart to cool a little before removing from the tin.
7. Let the tart cool for a further 10-15 minutes before serving with a simple salad.

Serves 6-8