It's Tomato Week! — Hack Your Lunch

Guys… It’s August. If you aren’t eating as many tomatoes as humanly possible, please take a moment to take a hard look in the mirror and ask yourself what you’re doing with your life. Go to the store. Preferably go to a farmer’s market (where local tomatoes are darn cheap and amazingly flavorful this month). Buy as many types of tomatoes in as many colors as you possibly can. Make this week tomato week!

It’s no secret. I love Melissa Clark’s “Good Appetite” column. Actually obsessed. So when I was browsing Instagram and an image of her incredible “Caramalized Tomato Tarte Tatin” popped up just as incredible tomatoes were showing up at GrowNYC's Union Square Greenmarket. I pretty much freaked out. So much so that I almost literally ran to Union Square on my lunch break to get tomatoes to make this.

There is no denying that this is one beautiful completed dish. It’s practically the Cindy Crawford of food. Perfect bone structure. Flawless from every angle. Definitely demands a double-take when you pass by it. But don’t be intimidated! I promise this is actually a weeknight recipe and it’s not hard! Mellissa really isn’t kidding when she says you can do this in an hour and fifteen minutes. And there is so little active prep! The key is using frozen pastry dough and letting the tomatoes shine by…not prepping them at all! And make sure you have two skillets at the ready so that you don’t have to clean up in between steps.

This is beyond delicious warm (although it’s a bit messy to cut!). So you could cut yourself a slice for dinner, or you could throw it in the fridge right away and let it cool and set up really nicely. And then eat, as usual, at room temperature for lunch!

“Supermodel” Tomato Tarte Tatin

Serves 4-6 (depending on how big your slices are…)

1 14-oz package frozen puff pastry (The cheap Pepperidge Farm type will work just fine!)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 red onions, halved and thinly sliced

¼ cup sugar

½ teaspoon red wine vinegar (or sherry vinegar if you have it, but you probably don’t)

¼ cup chopped pitted Kalamata olives

1 ½ pints cherry tomatoes

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

Kosher salt, to taste

Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

First off, learn from my mistake and make sure that your puff pastry is properly defrosted before you begin this. Take it out of the freezer earlier in the day and let it come up to room temp so that its malleable. Otherwise, you may end up like me warming the damn thing with… a hairdryer… because you have everything ready to go except your crust is completely unworkable….

Now, turn the oven on to 425˚F and let it preheat. While it’s preheating, unfold the puff pastry and roll it out and shape into a 10 inch round. Put it on a plate, cover it, and chill it until you’re ready to use it in a few minutes.

Now get a big skillet down. We’re going to caramelize your onions, so don’t use a non-stick. Melt the butter in the skillet over medium heat. Add the red onions and just a little bit of sugar and cook, stirring pretty regularly, until the onions are beautiful, golden and sweet (roughly 15-20 minutes). Deglaze the pan to nab all the flavors by adding a few tablespoons of water and scraping the delicious brown bits off the bottom. Transfer the onions to a bowl and put aside.

Now get an ovenproof 9 or 10 inch skillet out. We’re going to make a simple caramel. This is the trickiest part of the recipe, but don’t be afraid! I promise it’s easy! Combine ¼ cup of sugar and 3 tablespoons of water. Cook the liquid over medium, gently swirling the liquid in the pan by continuously moving the pan in a circular motion until the sugar melts and turns amber, which takes about 5-10 minutes. DO NOT try and stir. Just make sure you keep the liquid moving or it will burn and you will have to start over. You’ll know when it’s done because a) you’ll smell the sugar caramelizing and b) it turns a beautiful amber color. When it’s done, add the vinegar and swirl it a bit more before you turn off the heat.

Make sure that the caramel is distributed across the bottom of the entire pan and sprinkle the chopped olives evenly into the caramel. Then scatter the whole tomatoes (artfully) over the olives and then place the caramelized onions evenly on top. Sprinkle the thyme leaves across and season with some salt and pepper.

Get the puff pastry round out of the fridge and carefully place it on top of the pan (sort of like you are putting a lid on it). Tuck the edges of the puff pastry around the edges to create a secure base for all the toppings. Cut several long vents in the top of the pastry (so that it puffs when it cooks. No air. No puff).

Now put the pan in the oven and bake the tart for about 30 minutes, at which point the crust will be flaky and golden. Let it stand and cool for about 5 minutes and then run a knife around the edges to loosen the crust from the pan. Take a plate and place it over the top of the pan and then flip the whole thing over.

Voila! Tomato Tarte Tatin that everyone, including you, will be salivating over.