This might be the most gorgeous tart that has been birthed out of my oven. Just look at that ombre of open-faced tomatoes, the streams of ricotta in between, all nestled within a golden crust. I’m so mighty proud of this tart, and while I know it might not be particularly professional to gush over dishes of one’s own making, I can’t help but love this one especially! 

For once, a recipe of mine isn’t borne out of some kooky combination or funky fusion of flavours that you’ve probably come to expect, rather this is a classic tomato and ricotta tart through and through, just made extra beautiful with the bevy of multicoloured tomatoes on top. Because as much as I love funky flavours, sometimes you just need some comforting classics. 

And comforting it truly is! The combination of tomatoes, cheese, and pastry here is especially soothing to me, and brings me back to lazy weekend afternoons at Bloomsbury Coffee House during my time in London, eating their quiches on rotation washed down with a bowl of warm soup, and to the early mornings during my restaurant days at Blue Hill, where I often grabbed a quick, fresh-out-of-the-oven croissant or cheesy pastry before heading into the cellar to pick out the heirloom tomatoes to prep for the day. Even if you don’t have memories tied to tomatoes or savoury tarts, the flavours of this tart work so classically well together, and will indiscriminately enrapture you in a deep, enveloping hug indiscriminately.

About the Dish

This tart comes together with three components—a shortcrust pastry base, a ricotta filling, and a pretty bevy of tomatoes to top the tart with. 

The first, the pastry, is a pretty classic shortcrust pastry or pate brisee, made with butter and flour rubbed together till it’s sandy, then bound together with a bit of water to form the dough. It’s then rolled out, laid into a 9-inch tart pan, before it’s blind baked in the oven (tips on this process below).

Next, the ricotta. This creamy, rich mixture serves as a foil to the champion of the tart—the refreshing, subtly sweet, tangy tomatoes. While just a few dollops of ricotta would be passable, I bolstered its flavour with some minced garlic and parsley, giving it a bit more robustness, as well as an egg for some structure so it holds the tomato in place as it bakes.

Then, for the piece de resistance—the tomatoes! This tart truly shows off the beauty of tomatoes, and works especially well if you use cherry tomatoes, or any small, pearly heirloom tomato varieties. If you’re in Malaysia, these can be especially hard to find. But one place you can get it from is from the sponsors of this recipe—K Fresh! Their Korean mini tomatoes come in packs with a whole parade of colours, from vibrant green tomatoes to sunny yellows, ruby reds to ones in a deep maroon hue. (They’ve recently started doing online delivery for these beauties too!) Sliced in half, then arranged on top of the tart, they create an ombre cascade of summery colours, making the tart especially enticing! 

Tips for Success

To make this gorgeous tart, here are some useful tips and tricks to know:

• For the pastry: When making the shortcrust pastry, it really helps to keep everything cold as you don’t want your butter to melt or soften too quickly. This is especially important in hot and humid climates like in Malaysia where I’m at. A helpful step I’ve found is to put the butter and flour in the freezer 5 minutes before I start making the dough, to really bring down the temperature. Plus, I like to make sure my water is ice cold too when I add it to the butter and flour.
• Tomatoes: My preference is to use small, cherry tomatoes for this tart. Multicoloured ones make for an especially stunning tart with that ombre effect! However, if all you have on hand are larger, regular tomatoes, you can also slice them into thin discs (around 1cm (1/2 inch) thick) and arrange them on top of the ricotta filling.
• Baking: This tart is baked in three different ways. The tart shell itself is first blind baked with pie weights (you can use baking beans or rice here). Then, the weights are removed and it’s baked again to fully cook the tart base. Then the ricotta and tomatoes are placed in it, and it’s baked one last time. The second part of the baking is the most important, as you want the base to be golden and crisp, lest it would absorb the moisture from the ricotta filling and get soggy quick.

This recipe is sponsored by K Fresh by First Pick, a brand bringing premium air-flown Korean fresh produce to Malaysia.