Recipe: Goat’s cheese, anchovy and tomato tart

Elizabeth Bard is an American journalist and author based in Provence. Her first book Lunch in Paris: A Delicious Love Story, with Recipes has been a New York Times and International Bestseller. Her day job is running the ice-cream parlour Scaramouche in the village of Cereste. She won the 2010 Gourmand Award for best first cook book. Here’s her recipe for Goat’s Cheese, Tomato and Anchovy Tarts extracted from Lunch in Paris:

‘ Call me crazy but I love a good anchovy. I could be one of those cartoon cats who dangles the fish above its mouth and comes away with nothing but the skinny skeleton. Puff pastry is an easy base for impromptu tarts such as this one. Here the salty zing of the anchovies gives the mild goat’s cheese a kick in the pants. Serve as a lunch or a light dinner.

2 sheets frozen puff pastry thawed

Here’s the version that came out of the Guru kitchen

500 grams soft goats cheese

4 small tomatoes  cut into ½ cm slices

12 whole anchovies packed in oil, drained

Oregano

Black Pepper

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.

On a sheet of parchment paper roll out the pastry until it is about half its original thickness. Using a small plate as a guide cut out four 15 cm rounds. Transfer parchment paper to a large baking sheet (or two smaller ones)

Decorate each round of dough with slices of goat’s cheese in the shape of a flower (1 in the middle 5 or 6 petals) leaving a 2cm border of pastry all around. Top with 4 thin slices of tomato (use the large centre slices keep the ends for your salad). Drape over three anchovies so that their ends meet in the middle of the tart. Drizzle with a tiny bit of oil from the anchovy jar. Finish with a pinch of oregano and a grind of black pepper.

Bake on the lower middle rack for 25 minutes, until puffed and golden. Serve with a green salad.

Yield: Serves 4

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