quick tomato tart with thyme and red onions recipe

This tomato tart is special because you can throw it together very quickly and it needs few ingredients. You can use any old tomato, bar cherry varieties. I always make mine in a frying pan with a metal or removable handle - a tarte tatin pan - so that I can slot the whole thing into the oven for final cooking.

for 6-8

• 10 medium-sized tomatoes
• 2 red onions, thinly sliced
• slurp of olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• ½ tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh thyme
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• salt and black pepper
• 30g (drained weight) anchovies
• 20 capers
• 500g packet of puff pastry

Preheat the oven to 200°c/gas mark 6. Skin the tomatoes and cut them in half horizontally.

Saute the onions gently in a little olive oil with the garlic, thyme, sugar, salt and pepper for about 10 minutes. If you are planning to freeze, leave out the garlic (freezing garlic makes it taste mouldy).

Lay out the anchovies on top of the onion mix and sprinkle on the capers. Add the tomatoes, placing them cut side down and pusing them into the mix, and cook gently for a further 3-4 minutes.

Roll out the pastry to a thickness of about 5mm. If you're using bought pastry, it's often pre-rolled to about this size. Put the pastry over the pan, cutting away any excess, and push it down gently on to the tomatoes.

Put the pan into the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, until the puff pastry has risen and is golden brown.

Remove it from the oven and allow the tart to rest and cool slightly. It tastes much better warm or cold rather than hot and it's easier to turn out when slightly cooler. Before you turn the tart, check there's not too much juice. Tip the pan on its side and drain any excess before turning.

Place a large flat plate - the ideal size is one that sits perfectly just inside the pan - over the top and flip the whole tart. Scatter a few extra sprigs of thyme over it.

This recipe appears on p.279 of Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook.