For a show-stopping vegetarian main, try Rick Stein’s recipe for a traditional French confit tomato and aubergine tarte tatin, as seen on BBC2’s Rick Stein’s Secret France in 2019.
Making the tarte itself is quick and easy, only taking about 40 minutes. Preparing the confit tomatoes and aubergines takes a lot longer so I recommend doing this in advance as they will store well.
What Is Confit?
The word confit (pronounced “kon-FEE”) derives from the French verb confire which means to preserve. In traditional French cooking, confit refers to anything preserved by slowly cooking it in a liquid. Just about anything can be “confied.” For fruit, you would preserve it in sugar syrup. Confiture is the French word for jam preserves. For garlic, you use olive oil. The most well-known confit dishes in France are duck legs which are cured in salt before cooked in duck fat. Once cooked, the food is then packed into containers, totally submerged in the liquid. You want an impenetrable barrier to prevent any bacterial growth.
What Is a Tarte Tatin?
We owe the tasty recipe of the Tarte Tatin to an accidental discovery. Legend has it that the tart appeared at the end of the 19th century. Two sisters ran a hotel and restaurant in Lamotte-Beuvron, Caroline Tatin, who took care of the reception while Stéphanie Tatin, did the cooking. Her speciality was apple pie, served at the same caramelized and meltingly soft.
It was on one busy lunchtime service when clumsiness struck her. Wishing to meet the request of one of the customers, Stephanie forgot to add the pastry to a tart before putting it in the oven, she was panic-stricken for not being able to produce a dessert.
The apples were beginning to caramelize in the oven and not knowing what to do after her distraction, she took some dough and put it over the apples. Totally dismayed, she then had the idea to take a dish and return the whole thing. The Tarte Tatin was born!
Confit Tomato and Aubergine Tarte Tatin
Equipment
- You will need: a 20cm fixed-base cake tin or an ovenproof frying pan.
Ingredients
For the confit aubergines
- 300 g aubergines sliced
- 1½ tsp salt
- 150 ml olive oil
- 3 small garlic cloves chopped
- 1 fresh thyme sprig
- 1 small dried chilli or small pinch of chilli flakes
For the confit tomatoes
- 500 g tomatoes halved
- 1 garlic clove bashed but left whole
- 1 fresh thyme sprig
- 100 ml olive oil
- 1½ tsp balsamic vinegar
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the tarte tatin
- 1 garlic clove halved
- ½ tsp herbes de Provence
- 250 g all-butter puff pastry
- 2 fresh thyme sprigs leaves picked
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- fresh green salad to serve
Instructions
- For the confit aubergines, put the aubergine slices in a colander and sprinkle with the salt. Turn the slices over and sprinkle the other side. Set the colander over a bowl and leave for 30 minutes. Rinse the slices and dry with kitchen paper. Discard any juices. Place the aubergine in a small roasting tin. Preheat the oven to 110C/90C Fan/Gas ¼. Pour the oil into a small saucepan. Add the garlic, thyme and chilli and warm over a low heat. Carefully pour the warm oil mixture over the aubergine slices in the tin, making sure that the slices are all submerged.
- Meanwhile, for the confit tomatoes, arrange the tomatoes, cut-side up, in a roasting tin just big enough to hold them in one layer. Season with salt and pepper. Nestle the garlic clove and thyme sprig among the tomatoes, then pour over the oil and balsamic vinegar.
- Cook the tomatoes and aubergines in the oven for 2–2½ hours. Carefully transfer the tomatoes into a sterilised jar with the juices and oil from the tin. Carefully transfer the aubergine slices into a sterilised jar with the oil from the tin. Screw on the lids and leave to cool. Once cool, drain all of the oil away thoroughly from the tomatoes and aubergines so they are ready to use in the tarte.
- Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Rub the inside of the tarte tatin tin with the cut garlic clove and arrange the confit tomatoes, cut-side down, over the base. Next arrange a layer of confit aubergines over the tomatoes. Sprinkle with the herbes de Provence and season with salt and pepper.
- Roll out the pastry into a circle a little larger than the tin to allow for shrinkage and place it over the aubergines. Tuck the edges of the pastry into the dish and prick a few holes with a sharp knife to let the steam out. Bake the tarte for 25–30 minutes, until the pastry has risen and is golden and crisp.
- Remove the tarte from the oven and leave to cool a little. Carefully cover the tin with a plate and invert to turn the tarte out. You may need to rearrange a few of the vegetables with a palette knife if dislodged and blot up any oil spills on the plate.
- Sprinkle the tarte with the thyme leaves, cut into slices and serve warm or at room temperature.
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