Tomato Saffron Tart with Crabmeat

I have been wanting to make this recipe from ‘How to Eat a Peach’ since I started cooking from the book.

Diana Henry always comes through for me.  Her recipes take classic, easily accessible ingredients and serve them up in a fresh way.  And often she will sneak in a unique or exotic ingredient for me to try for the first time.  Actually, come to think of it, this is exactly what I hope I am doing for you all, with the recipes that I develop. 🙂

I hadn’t made this tart till now for a simple reason.  Jim won’t eat crab.  He is just not a lover of shellfish.  Trust me, I have tried over the years.  Even something as simple as scallops or shrimp, NOPE.  So I have three options: eat all the shellfish I can when he isn’t home; order shellfish when we go out for dinner; or make a dish with shellfish when company is coming to help me eat it!

And it is a variation on the third option that finally allowed me to try out this recipe.  We were invited to dear friends for a relaxing evening in their backyard.  It would be an evening of cocktails, charcuterie, tarte flambé, and this tart!  Finally, I would be able to taste it, and share it with others to get their feedback as well.

It’s really just a fabulous, rich quiche!  There is a layer of intense, homemade tomato purée that lines the par-baked crust.  Over this a combination of eggs, cream, crème frâiche and crabmeat is poured.  It all bakes up until the filling is set and has turned the most lovely golden yellow hue.

When I brought it over, ones mentioned that they could already smell the crab.  It was a good thing!  They were looking forward to tasting it, as was I.  Thankfully, like most quiche and egg dishes in general for that matter, this dish can be served at room temperature.  It sliced up into the a delightful creamy texture, but still held its shape.  The tomato, the saffron, the crab all shared centre stage.  The flavours combined to such a wonderful result, that I really need to make this again soon.  This will easily become a go-to recipe for you, I promise.  It got the thumbs up, in fact our hostess mentioned that she hoped I would post the recipe soon.  A hit!

But how can I make it regularly if Jim won’t touch it?  Here’s what I am thinking.  Sure, crabmeat is so special, especially when you can get the good meat.  Good claw meat will shine in this dish.  But if crabmeat just isn’t an option, then why not cooked, chunk tuna or salmon?  It won’t be the same, but it won’t be utterly a bad idea, would it?  I’m going to try it, so that Jim will eat it, and let you know!

How did I garnish this dish?  Just a whole bunch of fresh baby heirloom and cherry tomatoes, sliced up!  And some mint leaves.  I would have used basil leaves, but I didn’t have any.

What’s fabulous about this recipe?  Everything can be made in advance, in stages.  You can prepare the tomato purée and store it in the fridge till needed.  Same goes for the saffron cream mixture.  You can bake off the crust part way, and let it cool.  You can do this in the morning, even if you aren’t making the rest of the tart till the evening.  If you wanted to bake off the crust in an oblong tart pan, it would be perfect to slice up as an appetizer for a buffet table.  Just place the garnish in one corner of each slice.

And it warmed up perfectly the next day in the toaster oven.  Yes, I love this tart.  Thank you Diana Henry.

Love Jen

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Tomato, Saffron and Crab Tart

A creamy saffron custard filled with rich crabmeat sits on top of a thick, intense tomato purée, all inside a buttery pastry shell.  Perfect for a first course, or as dinner with a side salad.

Course Main Course

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 45 minutes

Resting time 15 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

Pastry Shell

• 2 cups AP flour plus more for dusting
• 1 1/4 sticks chilled unsalted butter chopped into rough cubes
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 medium egg yolk

Filling

• 4 medium to large Roma or plum tomatoes
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion minced
• 2 medium cloves garlic minced
• sea salt and cracked black pepper
• pinch of superfine granulated sugar
• 1 cup heavy or whipping cream
• generous pinch of saffron threads
• 1/2 cup crème fraîche
• 1 large egg plus 3 egg yolks
• 7 oz fresh lump crab meat
• 1 1/2 oz fresh claw crab meat
• 13-14 cherry or grape tomatoes 5-7 small to medium sized basil or mint leaves, optional garnish

Instructions

Pastry Shell

1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a food processor and whiz until it looks like large bread crumbs or oatmeal.
2. Mix the yolk with 1/2 tbsp of very cold water. Add it to the flour and whiz again. This time, keep pulsing until the mixture almost comes together.
3. Dump it onto the counter and use your hands to grab all the remaining bits to form a ball. Work it once or twice till it is a smooth ball. Press the ball down into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 20 minutes. (you can do this the day before)
4. When ready to bake off, bring out to room temperature and roll it to fit into a 9 inch loose bottomed tart pan. Prick the bottom with a fork, and return it to the fridge or freezer till firm.
5. Pre-heat the oven to 350F and place a metal baking sheet into the oven on a rack set into the lower third of the oven.
6. Line the pastry shell with parchment paper and fill it all with dried beans or weights. Place it onto the hot baking sheet and bake for 14 minutes, removing the paper and weights after the first 7 minutes.
7. Remove and let cool. You can also prepare up to here the morning of or even the evening before.

Filling

1. Cut a small x into the tip of each tomato. Plunge the tomatoes into boiling ater and leave them there for 20 seconds. Skin them by lifting the skin from the loose skin from the x and peel back.
2. Halve, seed, and cut the flesh into thin slivers.
3. Heat the butter and olive oil in a skillet and cook the onion and tomatoes gently until soft but not coloured.
4. Add the garlic, season with salt and pepper (start with 1/2 tsp of each)
5. Continue to cook until it has turned into a thick purée. Taste. If the tomatoes didn't have the best flavour to begin with, a bit of sugar will help. The purée should be dry, not at all wet or watery. Spoon it into the cooled tart shell.
6. Put about 3 tbsp of the heavy cream into a saucepan and add the saffron threads. Heat until just under boiling. Then stir until you can see the saffron colouring the cream. Let it cool.
7. Mix this with the rest of the heavy cream, the crème fraîche, egg and egg yolks. Season well with salt and pepper. Start with 1/2 tsp of each and then taste.
8. Gently stir in the crab meat.
9. Slowly pour this over the tomato purée.
10. Make sure the oven rack is now in the centre of the oven. And return the baking sheet ot the oven to warm up again.
11. Return the tart to the hot baking sheet and cook for 45 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and the filling is just set in the middle. It should still have a little give or jiggle in just the middle, as it will continue to cook outside the oven.
12. Let it cool for 15 minutes on a cooling rack, and then remove from the tart pan.

13. Optional: Garnish with sliced cherry or grape tomatoes, and basil or mint leaves

14. Serve it with a green salad.

Recipe Notes

You can prepare the tart shell, the tomato purée and even the custard and crabmeat all the day before. The tomato and custard can be stored in the fridge. While the oven is warming up, you can take everything out to come to room temperature. Assemble and bake. Save the egg whites for an omelette, or my Forgotten Cookies. I say that it serves 6. This is as a main meal. It will serve 8 as a first course. If baked in an oblong tart pan it will slice into lovely personal pieces.