Tomato & curd cheese tart
By Jane Hornby
Curd cheese is a soft, very creamy cheese, fabulous used with tomatoes as it is for this former cover star
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Prep:30 mins
Cook:1 hrs
Ready in 1 our 30 mins (plus chilling) - Serves 8
- More effort
Nutrition per serving
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kcal 278
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fat 17g
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saturates 10g
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carbs 24g
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sugars 4g
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fibre 2g
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protein 8g
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salt 0.58g
Ingredients
- 200g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 100g butter, cold and cubed
- 50g mature English cheddar, grated
- small bunch basil or flat-leaf parsley, leaves roughly chopped
- 175g curd cheese
- 8 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
- a little olive oil, to serve
- handful mixed soft herbs, (we used chervil, mint and flat-leaf parsley), to serve
Method
Put the flour, 1?2 tsp salt and butter into a food processor and whizz very roughly – you want the butter to stay in fairly large clumps. Tip into a bowl, stir in two-thirds of the cheddar, then bring together to a soft dough with about 100ml ice-cold water – add a little more if you need to. Knead quickly, then wrap in cling film and chill for at least 30 mins. Mix the chopped basil or parsley and remaining cheddar into the curd cheese, then season.
Dust the work surface with flour, then roll out the pastry to a long rectangle. Fold the top third down, then the bottom third up. Roll, then fold three more times to build up the flaky layers. Chill for at least 10 mins.
Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Roll the pastry until large enough to cut a round about 27cm across (use a dinner plate as a guide). Lift the pastry onto a lightly floured baking tray, prick with a fork, then bake for 15 mins. Let cool for a few mins.
Spread the herby curd cheese over the pastry, taking it almost to the edge, then arrange the tomatoes on top in overlapping circles. Season and bake for 15 mins until the pastry is golden around the edges. Turn oven down to 150C/fan 120C/gas 2 and bake for another 30-40 mins until the tomatoes look quite dried out and the pastry is cooked through. To serve, let the tart cool a little, then drizzle with olive oil. Toss the herbs with more oil, then pile in the middle of the tart to serve.
