I love going to a restaurant and leaving so inspired by what was on the menu that I simply have to recreate it at home, and that was very much the case after my visit to the wonderful
Limmat in Marseille. Every single small plate we sampled left me in awe, and I was particularly keen to make my own version of their the in-season tomato tarte tatin with lemon mascarpone, which we had as the grand finale of our mains, encapsulating the taste of summer in a wonderful slice of this French upside down tart.
I had also never made a tarte tatin, so I was obviously also up for the challenge! After some online investigating I found a great recipe from one of the food writers I truly admire,
Anna Jones, which I tweaked and added to ever so slightly with the addition of lemon mascarpone, to get as close to Lammat’s version as possible and I think I very much succeeded with the final result.
Yes, this sort of recipe takes a bit of time and patience (though the actual cooking involved is quite straightforward), but this stunning tart is a real showstopper, a summer show piece for any dinner party or BBQ that I want to make at least a couple times again before summer draws to a close, keeping a little bit of the Marseille spirit with me in London!
Serves 4-6
INGREDIENTS- 1kg of good ripe tomatoes (I use a mixture of different coloured ones, both big and cherry)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Olive oil
- 3 red onions, peeled and finely sliced
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp brown sugar or honey
- Butter, for greasing
- A 200g pack of all-butter puff pastry
- 1 egg, beaten
- 200g mascarpone
- 1 lemon, juiced and zested
- 200g rocket
METHOD- Halve the tomatoes and put them cut-side up on a baking tray with a little salt, pepper and olive oil.
- Bake them in a low oven at 100C/210F for 3-4 hours to slowly roast and sweeten.
- You may need to take some of the smaller tomatoes out a bit earlier, so keep an eye on them. Once cooked, allow to cool a little.
- Next make the caramelised onions.
- Heat a little olive oil on a medium heat and add the sliced onions.
- Cook for 10 minutes to sweeten and soften before adding the vinegar, sugar or honey and the leaves from a few sprigs of the oregano (saving the rest for later) and a good pinch of salt and pepper.
- Cook for 30-40 minutes until really soft and sticky.
- Butter a cast-iron or heavy frying pan about 24cm in diameter and lay the tomatoes cut-side down in a kind of mosaic, fitting them all together.
- Once they are all squeezed in, scatter the onion over the top.
- Roll out the pastry until it’s about 1cm thick and cut out a circle just bigger than your pan.
- Lay it over the onion mixture and tuck in the sides.
- You can stop here and put the tart into the fridge if you like.
- Once you are ready to cook, preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6.
- Brush the pastry with a little beaten egg and put it into the oven for 25‑30 minutes until golden all over and bubbling around the edges.
- While the tart is cooking mix the lemon zest and juice into the mascarpone and whip with a spoon until well combined.
- Put the lemon mascarpone in the fridge until the tart is ready to serve.
- Once the tart is golden and bubbling, take it out of the oven and allow it to sit for 5 minutes before running a knife around the edge and carefully turning out on to a plate.
- Serve the tart with the lemon mascarpone and rocket.