Under the Blue Gum tree

So I am finally back from my little jaunt to the UK and boy am I glad that I went back for the Olympics. Sadly my much fought for athletics ticket turned out to be a lot of people jumping over high bars with and without poles which I can’t claim was the most exciting. At least I was privileged to get inside the Olympic stadium though and more importantly, to experience the tremendous Olympic buzz that was all over London. I have never seen us notoriously miserable Londoners look so happy!

I am still feeling a little dazed and confused from my return flight. Eleven hours in the air is bad enough without a three hour wait on the runway due to a mysterious “technical fault.” Thanks British Airways! So when my thoughts turned to recipes, I was in quick and easy mode and, if it allowed me to knock a blog challenge or two on the head at the same time, then all to the good.

The recipe for this exceptionally delicious tomato and almond tart was published earlier this month in the Guardian. (You can find the recipe here.) The man behind the magic is Yotam Ottolenghi, whose novel recipes and inspiring flavour combinations seemingly know no bounds. This tart is a clever savoury take on the classic French fruit and frangipane combo. By inserting a layer of cheesy, almondy loveliness between the tomatoes and pastry, it ingeniously solves the problem of a soggy bottom – the tomato juices soak into the almond paste whilst the puff pastry stays crisp and flaky. Unless you have really flavourful tomatoes, I would suggest that Yotam’s optional anchovies are a necessary addition to really give this tart some zing. Alternatively, I reckon some olives or simply some fresh basil leaves would be good alternatives if you can’t stomach the fishy fiends.

I am entering this dish into August’s Alphabakes challenge hosted by Ros from “The More Than Occasional Baker” and Caroline from “Caroline Makes” as this month’s nominated letter is “T.”