The sun has finally peeked its head out, albeit somewhat intermittently, and with it come thoughts of lazy weekend picnics with the paper and a bottle of sunscreen. These cute little tarts are perfect, transportable, picnic fare.

Roasted tomatoes, dollops of cool, creamy ricotta and a sprinkling of thyme all encased in eggy custard. If that’s not your bag try any of these tart recipes. Other transportable goodies include: Chicken and 3-rice salad, Barley salad, Barley and chickpea salad, Roast tomato and spinach bulghar salad. (Ps: I got my individual tart tins here.)

Ingredients

This makes enough pastry and filling for a 24cm tart or 12 individual tarts.

1 quantity shortcrust pastry, baked blind
filling
250g cherry tomatoes
300ml double cream
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
50g grated cheddar or parmesan
small bunch oregano, chopped
250g ricotta

• Preheat the oven to 180C. Slice the tomatoes in half and throw onto a large baking tray. Drizzle with olive, season with crunchy flakes of sea salt, a twist of black pepper and a pinch of brown sugar. Stir well, making sure all the tomatoes are cut side up and roast for 40mins until shrivelled and golden.
• Whisk the cream and eggs together in a jug and season generously. Stir in the cheddar.
• Scatter ⅔ of the tomatoes onto the base of the pastry case. Dot around ⅔ of the ricotta and sprinkle over most of the oregano. Pour over the eggy mixture and arrange the remaining tomato, ricotta and oregano on top.
• Bake at 190C for 25 minutes, or until the top is golden and firm to the touch.

Tags: pastry, ricotta, tomato

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