Tomato, pesto, feta: what a winning combination. This is such an easy, tasty dish that can be knocked up in minutes (using shop-bought pastry!) and is great for a simple, summery lunch with friends.
First, take around 500g of mixed tomatoes – different shapes and colours are good – and slice them in half. A good trick is to mix these with a good pitch of salt in a sieve over a bowl. This will extract the salt, which intensifies the flavour and dries them out a bit so the pastry doesn’t get soggy.
Take one sheet of ready-made puff pastry, without feeling any guilt whatsoever, and lay it out on a sheet of parchment on a baking tray. Fold over the edges by around 5mm so that you get a nice crust when it bakes. Take a pastry brush and paint on a nice undercoat of green pesto all over the base of the tart. This also protects the base and tastes amazing too – yet another addition to the list of uses for pesto, magical stuff that it is.
Arrange your tomatoes over the baking sheet and crumble over some feta. Cook in an oven at around 190 degrees for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.
Leave to cool for a few minutes before garnishing with basil and a good sprinkle of salt and pepper. Serve with a salad or some wilted spinach.
