Tart of confit Piccolo tomatoes with pesto and smoked salmon
These beautiful tarts are perfect for entertaining around Christmas, with a slice of smoked salmon in the centre and umami-rich slow-cooked tomatoes around the outside. Don't be put off by the long cooking time – this is just so the tomatoes have enough time in the oven to crinkle up and concentrate their flavour. All you really need to do is whizz up two different types of pesto in a food processor and assemble!
Ingredients
Tomato confit
- 20 Piccolo tomatoes , halved across the centre
- 5g of icing sugar
- 2 garlic cloves , finely sliced
- 4 sprigs of thyme
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Basil pesto
- 50g of basil
- 30g of pine nuts
- 30g of Parmesan , finely grated
- 1 garlic clove
- 85ml of olive oil
Sun-dried tomato pesto
- 125g of sun-dried tomatoes
- 3 garlic cloves , finely sliced
- 70g of pine nuts
- 100ml of balsamic vinegar
- 120ml of olive oil
- 50g of Parmesan , finely grated
- 50g of tomato purée
To serve
- 4 slices of smoked salmon
- 4 pre-baked tart cases, small
- mint leaves
- gold leaf, (optional)
Method
1
Preheat an oven to 50°C. Place the halved tomatoes cut-side up on an oven tray. On top of each tomato place a sliver of sliced garlic, a thyme leaf, a little salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Dust with icing sugar, then place in the oven and cook for 2.5-3 hours until crinkled around the edges. You want to keep the temperature as low as possible, to prevent the garlic from burning
- 20 Piccolo tomatoes , halved across the centre
- 2 garlic cloves , finely sliced
- 4 sprigs of thyme
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
- 5g of icing sugar
2
While the tomatoes conft, prepare the pestos. Begin by making the basil one – add all the ingredients (apart from the olive oil) to a food processor and blitz until well combined. Drizzle in the olive oil, then season to taste and set aside
- 50g of basil
- 30g of pine nuts
- 30g of Parmesan , finely grated
- 1 garlic clove
- 85ml of olive oil
3
Clean out the bowl of the food processor, then repeat the same process for the sun-dried tomato pesto. Both pestos will be slightly stiffer than a traditional pesto consistency, which is fine
- 125g of sun-dried tomatoes
- 3 garlic cloves , finely sliced
- 70g of pine nuts
- 100ml of balsamic vinegar
- 50g of Parmesan , finely grated
- 50g of tomato purée
- 120ml of olive oil
4
To build the tarts, spread the base of each tart case with the sun-dried tomato pesto. Arrange the confit tomato halves in a concentric circle, then roll a slice of smoked salmon into a rose shape and place it in the centre. Dot the basil pesto around the top, then garnish with the mint leaves and gold leaf (if using)
- 4 pre-baked tart cases, small
- 4 slices of smoked salmon
- mint leaves
- gold leaf, (optional)
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Tart of confit Piccolo tomatoes with pesto and smoked salmon
