I don’t know why this tart seems autumnal, perhaps it is the thyme, but that’s how it smells in the kitchen. We ate it with a salad of tomatoes and onions but it would work just as well with some fried potatoes. Just a note about the goat’s cheese, the one we chose didn’t melt as we expected it to and although this didn’t affect the taste it did mean it didn’t look as we expected. Bear this in mind when you select your cheese. Our version included an optional tomato and onion base. Next time we will try it with an onion base, and blind bake the tart first for a few minutes with an egg wash over the base. Serves 4
1 small bag of new potatoes or 2-3 ordinary potatoes
½ slab of ready-made puff pastry [about 250g]
Butter, for greasing
Flour, for dusting
1 goat’s cheese [the kind in a log with a rind], thinly sliced
Sprigs of fresh thyme
Olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 egg
Optional:-
Onion, finely chopped
Tin of chopped tomatoes

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4.

If you are using salad potatoes, slice them finely into uniform pieces, they need to be the same thickness so they cook through evenly. Set them aside. If, like us, you are using old potatoes, they will need par-boiling first so cut them into chunks.

Grease a baking tray with butter. Roll out the puff pastry on a floured board until thin, to a size that fits your baking tray. Transfer the pastry to the baking tray, then with a knife lightly score a box about 2.5cm inside the edges. If, like us, you like the idea of a tomato and onion base, heat some olive oil in a frying pan and gently fry the chopped onion until it is sweet and golden. Add the tinned tomatoes, stir and cook slowly until the sauce thickens.

While the sauce was cooking, we par-boiled the potatoes. Drain, and set aside. Once cooled, we sliced them.Layer the tomato mix over the base of the tart, inside the scored lines. Next, arrange the potato slices evenly on the sauce, and put the thin slices of goat’s cheese on top of the potato. Sprinkle thyme leaves over the top, drizzle over some olive oil, and season with sea salt and black pepper. Beat the egg with a fork and brush over the pastry border. Bake for about 15-20 minutes. This keeps in the fridge for a couple of days, and reheats surprisingly well.

5 to remember
otoñal – autumnal
no se le deshizo – it didn’t melt
como esperamos – as we expected
un tronco – a log
la corteza – the rind [of cheese]

‘Friends, Food, Family’ by Sasha Watkins [UK: Quadrille]