La Tarte Soleil au Pesto et Tomates Séchées
La Tarte Soleil au Pesto et Tomates Séchées·(lah tart soh-LAY oh pes-TOE eh toe-MAHT seh-SHAY)
L'Apéro Dînatoire: The Casual Friday Gathering
When you want to elicit a collective gasp from your guests without spending hours in the kitchen, you make this. Born from the sun-drenched traditions of the Provençal fougasse, this brilliant communal appetizer dictates that everyone simply reaches out and tears off a twisted, flaky ray with their bare hands. The secret to making it taste exactly like it does in a French home lies entirely in moisture and temperature: drain your pesto, use a barrier of good cheese, and never, ever let your puff pastry get warm.
Before you start
Seek out all-butter puff pastry.
Standard supermarket puff pastry relies on shortening, but all-butter brands like Dufour yield that authentic, rich French flavor.
Make it ahead of time.
You can fully assemble and twist the tart, then freeze it raw. When your guests arrive, bake it straight from the freezer, adding 5 to 7 extra minutes to the cooking time.
Ingredients
- all-butter puff pastry1 lb
- basil pesto1/2 cup
- sun-dried tomatoes in oil1/3 cup
- Gruyère, Comté, or Parmigiano-Reggiano1/2 cup
- egg yolk1 large
- sesame or nigella seeds1 tbsp
Method
- 01
Drain the pesto through a fine-mesh sieve to remove excess oil, then mix it with the grated cheese.
Supermarket pesto can be oily, which is the enemy of flaky pastry. The cheese acts as a sponge, binding the oils during baking so they don't soak into your tart base.
- 02
Preheat the oven to 400°F and place a heavy baking sheet on the lower-middle rack.
Unroll your first pastry sheet onto parchment paper, trace a 10-inch circle with a dinner plate, and discard the scraps. Repeat for the second sheet, but place that second circle in the fridge immediately to keep the butter cold.
- 03
Spread the pesto-cheese mixture over the first pastry circle and scatter the chopped tomatoes on top.
Crucially, leave a clean, bare border of about 3/4 inch around the entire edge so the tart can be properly sealed.
- 04
Lightly moisten the bare border with cold water and drape the chilled second pastry circle over the filling.
Press down firmly around the edges to seal the two sheets together.
- 05
Place a small, upside-down water glass in the exact center of the dough.
Press down just firmly enough to make a circular indentation and seal the layers, but do not cut through the dough. Leave the glass in place as an anchor.
- 06
Cut the dough from the edge of the glass outward to the sealed border.
Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, divide the tart into four quadrants, then halve each repeatedly until you have thirty-two thin, equal rays.
- 07
Remove the glass and gently twist each ray on itself three to four times.
If the dough feels soft or floppy at this point, slide the whole thing into the freezer for five to ten minutes. Cold dough is essential. Twist all rays in the same direction for a uniform sunburst effect.
- 08
Brush the entire tart with the egg wash, sprinkle with seeds, and slide it onto the hot baking sheet in the oven.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. The hot baking sheet will immediately start crisping the bottom. The tart is done when it is puffed, deep golden brown, and crisp to the touch.
Notes
Watch the temperature of your dough.
If the pastry gets warm while you're cutting or twisting, the butter will melt before baking, resulting in a greasy crust. Don't hesitate to pop the whole tart in the freezer for ten minutes if the dough gets floppy.
The preheated baking sheet acts as a pizza stone.
Baking the tart directly on a hot tray ensures the bottom crisps up aggressively, combating any residual moisture from the pesto.
From Cook French in America.