Recipe: Eggplant and Tomato Tarte Tatin
Vanja van der Leeden, known for the wonderful books Indostok, Indorock and Italopop, has won another award. This time, her Tortino di parmigiana (eggplant and tomato tarte tatin) from Italopop was named ‘Recipe of the Year 2024‘. For this dish, salted eggplant is fried and then layered in a baking dish with tomato sauce, Parmesan cheese and mozzarella. Who will you make this for?
Lovely as a starter
Vanja: ‘Umami, fat and melted cheese. Just try saying no to that. The father of my former boyfriend Alessandro had a vegetable garden in his village in Campania that was like a sweet shop. Alessandro took me to his birthplace, where everyone looked me up and down, probably thinking we should get married; I thought very differently about that. I mainly wanted to eat his mother’s parmigiana made with vegetables from his father’s garden. It was incredibly delicious, meaty and so full of flavour. By now, there are plenty of good recipes for melanzane alla parmigiana, so as a tribute to the original I came up with a little parmigiana tatin. Presented differently and lovely as a starter.’
Making eggplant and tomato tarte tatin
- Cut the eggplants into round slices ½ centimetre thick. Sprinkle generously with salt, place a cutting board on top and put something heavy on it, such as a cast-iron pan or a large mortar. Leave for at least 45 minutes. Then pat the slices thoroughly dry.
- Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
- Halve the cherry tomatoes and sprinkle them with salt. Place them cut-side up in a large baking dish or on a baking sheet and roast them in the oven for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly.
- For the caramel, melt the sugar over low heat in a heavy-based pan. Let the sugar bubble and turn caramel-coloured. Add the butter in cubes and let it melt. Add the salt and chilli flakes and, off the heat, stir in the tomato purée.
- Divide the caramel among 4 moulds (12 to 13 centimetres in diameter). Arrange the eggplant slices in a circle, overlapping them like roof tiles. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan over each mould.
- Slice the mozzarella and leave it to drain on kitchen paper. Divide it among the moulds.
- Squeeze most of the moisture out of the cherry tomatoes with your hands and place them cut-side down in the moulds.
- Place a slice of puff pastry in each mould, tucking it in around the sides. Put in the oven and bake for another 30 minutes.
- If necessary, loosen the tatins and invert them onto plates. Generously grate Parmesan over them with a fine grater and serve immediately.
Two tips:
- If you are not used to making caramel, add 1 tablespoon of water to the sugar; this makes the caramelisation happen more gradually.
- You can also make one large tarte tatin and cut it into wedges. Cook the tart a little longer, say 45 minutes. This dish can also be prepared in advance. Partially bake the tart or individual tarts, then put them in the oven for another 15 to 20 minutes before serving.
Title: Italopop
Author: Vanja van der Leeden
Price: €39,99
Publisher: Nijgh & van Ditmar
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