London seems to have forgotten how to Summer this year. Sure, they were a few heatwave-type days, but those were a while back, and since then, it’s been mostly dark clouds and rain and wind.
Since the weather has been failing me, I had to turn to some other methods to get my daily dose of Summer. Which might explain why I’ve baked variations of my mum’s tomato tart every week for the past month or so…
This tomato & tapenade version might be one of my favourite variations sofar.
Juicy ripe tomato, punchy tapenade and melt-in-the-mouth pastry… you’ll want a large slice of this one (and it takes minutes to put it together… #WinWin)!
Ingredients: 1 portion of shortcrust pastry (you can make your own or buy it in the supermarket), about 100g of black olive tapenade (I bought mine from the Borough Olives stall at the Borough Market), 4-6 ripe tomatoes (depending on the size of your tart tin), salt, cracked black pepper, dried thyme (or any other herb you like).
1. Roll your pastry on a lightly floured surface. Line your tart tin and cut the excess pastry.
2. Spread the tapenade over the bottom of the pastry.
3. Slice your tomatoes.
4. Arrange the tomato slices accross the top in a circular pattern.
5. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt, some cracked black pepper and a generous helping of dried thyme. 
6. Bake for about 30 minutes at 180°C or until the tomatoes look golden. 
7. Serve hot or cold with a green salad.
What’s your favourite lazy-cook-friendly summer recipe?
With my parents visiting last week, I thought it was about time I re-visited an old favourite of ours: the chocolate tart, which I made following one of my dad’s cousines’ recipe. And I might have made it even more decadent with the addition of a layer of salted caramel sauce. I don’t really know why I did that… I suppose I felt like there wasn’t enough butter and cream inthere already! 😜
Cake and Whisky 