A bottle of vino, flowers, store bought baked goods and/or a cool book are all wonderful gifts to bring a host. But what about those occasions that require a bit more? Meeting the parents, the dreaded holiday party at the bosses house, your crazy aunts dinner arranged just so you can “meet so and so’s adoraaable nephewww becauuse he has a good job and a girl your age should be married already!”

That’s where the tomato tarte tartin comes in. If the crudité platter is running low skip the whip cream and it can be served as an hors d’oeuvre. If Aunt Ruth serves her mystery dessert, accidentally drop it on the floor then add that whip and save the day!

I will forewarn you, this is not the easiest of recipes (but by no means hard) nor is it friendly to the hips and it takes an hour and thirty minutes to prepare but it does impress so plan accordingly.

How to: Tomato Tarte Tatin

You will need:
1 3/4 pounds plum tomatoes (8 large)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar (We used only 1/2 c sugar and more tomatoes to make it less dessert-like as it was a starter)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 sheet frozen puff pastry (half of 17.3-ounce package), thawed, corners cut off to make very rough 9- to 10-inch round
Lightly sweetened whipped cream (we also skipped the whip cream)

Continued after the jump…

1. Preheat oven to 425°F and concassé your tomatoes by cutting a shallow X in the bottom of each tomato. Add 4 or so tomatoes to boiling water. Blanch tomatoes just until skins at X begin to peel back, 15 to 30 seconds. Using slotted spoon, transfer blanched tomatoes to bowl of ice water to cool quickly. Repeat with remaining tomatoes. Peel tomatoes. Cut out cores, halve lengthwise, and remove seeds.

2. Spread butter over bottom of 9 1/2-inch diameter, 2- to 3-inch-deep ovenproof skillet (preferably cast-iron). Sprinkle 3/4 cup sugar over butter. Arrange tomato halves, rounded side down and close together, in concentric circles in skillet to fill completely.

3. Place skillet over medium heat. Cook until sugar and butter are reduced to thickly bubbling, deep amber syrup (about 1/4 inch deep in bottom of skillet), moving tomatoes occasionally to prevent burning, about 25 minutes.


4. Remove skillet from heat. Immediately drizzle vanilla over tomatoes. Top with pastry round (cut edges if needed like we did here). Using knife, tuck in edges of pastry. Cut 2 or 3 small slits in pastry. Place skillet in oven and bake tart until pastry is deep golden brown, about 24 minutes.

5. Cool tart in skillet 10 minutes. Cut around sides of skillet to loosen pastry. Place large platter over skillet. Using oven mitts as said, hold skillet and platter firmly together and invert, allowing tart to settle onto platter. Carefully lift off skillet. Rearrange any tomato halves that may have become dislodged.

Serve tart warm or at room temperature with or without whipped cream and enjoy!

Recipe: Epicurious
Photos: Geri Hirsch