Michel Roux Jr's tomato tart recipe
Michel Roux Jr's tomato tart recipe
(Image credit: Michel Roux Jr)

Most people tend to forget that the tastiest tomatoes you can find are as summer turns to autumn. It means they have had the chance to gorge up all the sun, which makes them deliciously sweet.

Tomatoes are so popular and versatile that everybody seems to love them.

Michel Roux Jr tomato tart recipe

250g puff pastry

350g cherry tomatoes

6 small shallots

100grcrème fraîche

2 tbsp of mustard

3 tbsp of olive oil

5 basil leaves

15g pine nuts

30g Parmesan

Salt and pepper

  • First of all slice the tomatoes in two if they are small, or in quarters if bigger. Season them with salt and leave to render in the excess water for about 30 minutes. This is crucial, otherwise your tart will be soggy.
  • Peel the shallots and cut in slices of approximately half a centimetre.
  • Generously oil a baking tray and season the slices before cooking in the oven for 15 minutes at 175°C until coloured.
  • Once you have lined your puff pastry on a baking tray you must pre-cook it for 10 minutes at
    180°C until a lovely blond colour. You may need to use some dried beans and cling film to ensure that the puff pastry doesn’t rise too much.
  • Whisk the crème fraîche with the whole grain mustard and spread evenly throughout the bottom of the tart.
  • Add a few basil leaves on the bottom for extra taste before decorating your tart with the tomatoes and confit shallots. Once decorated and seasoned the tart is ready to go back in the oven at 150° until the tomatoes are softened and the puff pastry has a caramelized colour.
  • This tart is at its best served lukewarm with a drizzle of olive oil, shaves of Parmesan, toasted pine nuts and fresh basil on top.

Wines to drink with tomato tart

  • Mas Bruguière l’Arbousé, 2014: From the north of the Languedoc region, this wine is a blend of Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre that has a generous yet balanced fruity flavour. Great for the summer seasons with a mineralogy that suits fresh vegetables. RRP: £10.97 from Waitrose.
  • Château Olivier Pessac-Léognan, 2012: This Bordeaux wine is a blend of Sauvignon, Sémillon and Muscadelle. A combination of white flowers, citrus fruits with a hint of smokiness it is a very lively wine. RRP: £34.60 from Tanners Wine Merchants.
  • Esprit Buganay Rose, Cotes de Provence, 2014: If you are serving this drink as an aperitif, the tomato tart is the perfect accompaniment. With the blend of Cinsault, Syrah, Grenache you will not be disappointed. RRP: £10.99 from Waitrose.

More about the wines

Close to my heart, as my wife is a native of the region, is the joyful rosé from the north of the Languedoc region. On the beautiful territory of the Pic Saint Loup, the blend of Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre offer an extremely balanced, fruity and generous wine.

Its mineralogy matches perfectly with local tomatoes. The Mas Bruguière l’Arbousé, 2014, is excellent value for money, a wine that you can enjoy all summer long.

For a rounder and richer wine why not try a Bordeaux grand cru? This roundness is provided by a blend of Sauvignon, Sémillon and an infinite percent of Muscadelle. I thoroughly enjoy the notes of exotic fruit and smokiness that the Château Olivier Pessac Léognan, 2012 delivers. This young white wine full of liveliness couples fantastically with the Mediterranean tomato tart.

Perfect served as an aperitif, the light and subtly spicy flavours of the Esprit Buganay Rose, Cotes de Provence, 2014 works perfectly with the tomato tart. A beautiful blend of Cinsault, Syrah, Grenache this wine if full of fruity flavours and is beautifully elegant. This full-flavoured rose comes from the southern region of Provence, and so works so wonderfully with fresh, aromatic ingredients such as tomatoes.

Michel Roux Jr
Michel Roux Jr
Columnist
Michel Roux Jr was born in 1960 in Pembury, Kent, where his father Albert Roux worked as a private chef for the Cazalet family. His earliest food memories are the smells of the Fairlawne kitchen – pastry, sugar caramelizing and stews – where he played under the table while his father and mother Monique prepared the meals. After deciding to follow in his father’s footsteps, he left school at 16 for the first of several challenging apprenticeships at Maître Patissier, Hellegouarche in Paris from 1976 to 1979. He was then Commis de Cuisine at Alain Chapel’s signature restaurant at Mionay near Lyon, Michel’s biggest influence. His military service was spent in the kitchens at the Elysée Palace at the time of Presidents Giscard d’Estaing and François Mitterrand. He also spent time at Boucherie Lamartine and Charcuterie Mothu in Paris, and the Gavers Restaurant in London. After a stint at the Mandarin Hotel in Hong Kong he returned to London and worked at La Tante Claire before joining the family business. He took over running Le Gavroche in 1991, gradually changing the style of cooking to his own – classic French with a lighter, modern twist. Michel opened Roux at Parliament Square in May 2010 with Restaurant Associates, part of the Compass Group UK and Ireland. And in November 2010, he opened Roux at The Landau at London’s prestigious luxury hotel, The Langham. Michel was a judge and presenter on the BBC’s popular prime time show, MasterChef: The Professionals, and presented all series of ‘Great British Food Revival.’  Michel fronted BBC2’s ‘Food and Drink,’ in 2014 and presented a documentary on Escoffier, whose revolutionary approach to fine cuisine has inspired Michel and many others. In the same year, Michel went on a journey to create the perfect chocolate for the Le Gavroche Kitchen.  Filmed by the BBC, in Paris he discovered chocolatiers, Cacao Barry and their Or Noir Lab. In 2013, Michel launched his most recent cookbook, ‘The French Kitchen’.  Focusing on traditional French home cooking, this is the fifth solo cookery book from Michel. He is involved with the Roux Experience courses at the ‘Cactus Kitchens’ cookery school, with the Executive producer of Saturday Kitchen, Amanda Ross. Cactus Kitchens offers people the opportunity to learn to cook within small intimate groups from some of the UK’s finest chefs, on site above the Saturday Kitchen studios. Michel has fronted a brand new four-part Channel 4 series, ‘The Diner’, exploring the hurdles faced by people with disabilities and mental health issues when finding employment. Michel also recently presented a new program on his first ever project with the Disney Channel.  ‘First Class Chefs’ which launched in June 2015, is a show where kids aged 9-11 compete to showcase their restaurant skills.