Sunday August 15th
Day 116
‘Bring lunch to share’. We are fourteen friends standing round my sister’s dining room table, draped in sunshine yellow. Each different bowl and dish and plate full of someone’s thought and time and skill and love - carried in a car to be part of the whole. Some of us walked five miles first to anticipate this lunch.
I didn’t - my toes are still not ready for boots. But my tomato tart - I could take anywhere.
This is the version I cooked this morning in my cool, quiet kitchen while my husband slept and the pussy cat cleaned his whiskers. It’s a very quick tart.
Roll out a slab of puff pastry - made with butter is best - as thinly as possible, and line a shallow roasting tray.
Smear the base with tomato puree or a jar of pesto. Today I used some roasted aubergines, red peppers, onions and garlic instead.
Sprinkle with a thick layer of grated cheese - Cheddar or Gruyere or Cheshire.
Place rows of sliced tomatoes on top - about eight large ones will do.
Finish with a scattering of parmesan, a scrunch of sea salt and some grinds of black pepper. Tuck a few torn basil leaves between the tomatoes.
Bake in a very hot oven for about half an hour till the pastry is crisp round the edges and the cheese is browning and the tomatoes are shrinking.
And it smells like a street cafe in Florence.
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