My first proper job out of university was at Innocent drinks. Everyone there was food-obsessed. My desk pal Kevin had to eat his Irn-Bru bars in secret, while another, Ceri, made tapenade whenever she had friends over, which felt like the dizzy heights of sophistication. It was briny, zippy and glistening, and the perfect backdrop to some breadsticks, drinks and good times. Today, I’ve repurposed this old stalwart to act as the rich, salty base note to a very easy tart and some of summer’s finest and most colourful vegetables.
Tapenade tart with peppers and tomatoes
You’ll need a blender and two large-ish baking trays for this. The tart is best eaten straight away, either by itself or with a bowlful of lemon and olive oil-dressed rocket leaves.
Prep 15 min
Cook 50 min
Serves 4 for lunch, 2 for dinner
125g sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
1½ tbsp capers in brine, drained
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
165g kalamata olives, drained and pitted
Extra-virgin olive oil
250g good cherry tomatoes, halved
2 peppers (1 red, 1 yellow), stalks, seeds and pith removed, flesh cut into ¾cm-thick slices
1 red onion, peeled and cut into ½cm-thick slices
¼ tsp fine sea salt
1 x 320g pack ready-rolled vegan puff pastry –I use JusRol
1 handful fresh basil, leaves picked
Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7 and line a large baking tray with (ideally reusable) baking paper.
Now make the tapenade. Put the sun-dried tomatoes, capers, garlic and 125g of the olives in a blender, add two tablespoons of olive oil and blitz to a paste; add another tablespoon of oil if it needs some help blending. Put to one side.
Pop the cherry tomatoes, peppers, onion and the remaining 40g olives into a large bowl, add the salt and three tablespoons of oil, and toss with your hands, separating the onion strips as you go. Transfer to a large baking sheet (or two smaller ones – you don’t want the vegetables to be touching much) and bake for 15 minutes, until they are beginning to soften and char.
While the vegetables are roasting, unroll the pastry on to a second tray – use the baking paper that comes underneath it to line the tray. Mark a shallow, 1cm border all the way around the edge of the pastry, then, using your best plastering skills, smooth the tapenade neatly and evenly over the pastry sheet up to the marked border.
After the vegetables have roasted, use a slotted spoon to distribute them evenly over the tapenade, leaving any roasting juices in the tray (you’ll use these later). Put the tart in the hot oven for 18-20 minutes, until the pastry borders are puffed up and golden, then remove and leave to cool for five minutes.
Scatter or rip the basil leaves all over the top, drizzle with a little of the reserved vegetable roasting juices and extra oil, if you wish, then slice and eat.