Epicure Recipe Card #22: Sardine & Tomato Tart

So after my somewhat haphazard start to this Recipe Card Challenge, the subsequent recipe attempts have been better thought out. When an evening presented itself where we would be having a couple of friends over for dinner, I thought it would make the perfect opportunity for some culinary guinea-pigging! And as I had a day of shopping planned with Mistress, I knew it would have to be something quick so I chose this tart as a starter. (The rest of the meal will come in a separate post.)

I used ready-rolled pastry and had mistakenly bought sardines in tomato sauce, instead of in oil, but it turned out well anyway. Easy, quick and full of flavour.

Sardine & Tomato Tart

(adapted from The Age – Epicure 50 Best Recipe Cards, recipe by Jill Dupleix)

Ingredients:

·         1 sheet of ready-rolled shortcrust pastry, thawed

·         300g tinned crushed tomatoes

·         1 tbs olive oil

·         2 garlic cloves, crushed

·         pinch each of salt and sugar

·         ½ tsp dried mixed herbs

·         handful of pitted black olives

·         1 tbs salted capers, rinsed

Method:

1. Prick pastry all over with a fork and refrigerate for 30 minutes to prevent shrinkage when baking.
2. In the meantime combine tomatoes, oil, garlic, salt, sugar and herbs in a medium saucepan over medium heat and simmer for 20 minutes until thickened. Allow to cool slightly and preheat oven to 200°C.
3. Spread thickened tomato over the pastry base and arrange sardines on top in a criss-cross pattern.
4. Stud each diamond section with an olive, scatter with capers and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden. 

happy cooking!