Caprese Tart — Baked Tomatoes and Mozzarella with homemade tomato paste

👨‍🍳 Method

For the homemade tomato paste ✓ Homemade · or skip – back to store-bought

1. 1
   Wash the tomatoes, remove the cores and quarter each tomato.

   KnifeCutting board
2. 2
   Put the tomatoes, the salt and half of the olive oil in a wide pot, cover and cook over medium heat about 20 minutes, until the tomatoes soften and release their liquid.

   StoveWide, shallow pot
3. 3
   Pass the tomatoes and their liquid through a food mill or sieve and return the purée to the pot: the skins and seeds stay behind.

   Food millorFine sieve
4. 4
   Cook uncovered about an hour at a lively simmer, stirring now and then, until the purée reduces by half.

   StoveWooden spoon

   💡The paste burns easily as it dries: stir and scrape the bottom and edges, and once it is thick, don't walk away.
5. 5
   Preheat the oven to 110°C (230°F).

   Oven

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
6. 6
   Grease a wide baking dish with the rest of the olive oil and pour in the purée in a thin layer. Dry in the oven about 3 hours, stirring and scraping the edges every 30 minutes, until the paste is thick, sticky and brick red.

   OvenBaking sheetSilicone spatula
7. 7
   Let the paste cool.

   Jar

For the Baked Savory Pie

1. 8
   Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F). Grease a 24 cm pan.

   OvenBaking pan
2. 9
   Heat the olive oil in a skillet and sauté the cherry tomatoes and garlic about 5 minutes.

   StoveFrying pan

   💡Sauté the tomatoes before baking: they release some of their juice in the pan, and the eggs set around them instead of in a puddle.
3. 10
   Arrange layers of the cherry tomatoes and the mozzarella in the pan and sprinkle the basil on top.

   Baking pan
4. 11
   Whisk the eggs, cream and tomato paste with salt and black pepper and pour over the top.

   BowlWhisk
5. 12
   Bake 30 minutes, until the quiche is firm and golden.

   OvenBaking pan

   💡Check by the cue (until…), not just the clock: every oven bakes a little differently.
6. 13
   Let cool 10 minutes before cutting.

   💡Resting before cutting sets the pie: cut straight out of the oven, it is still soft inside and the slices fall apart.