Cherry tomatoes of various colours remind me of summer’s jewels and I love to create a simple summery tart with hints of tarty-sweetness from ripe garden tomatoes. Like a glistening jewel, the tart will sparkle and brighten any summer table. 

Health benefits –

·       Cherry tomatoes come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours, including red, yellow, orange, white, pink and black, and are sweeter in taste than full-size tomatoes.

·       They’re super low in calories and packed with fibre, vitamin C, potassium and other vitamins and minerals essential for good health.

TOMATO & CASHEW CHEESE TART

Use a 23 cm round tart pan

PB, DF, GF

Pastry case:

2½ cups (300 g) white spelt flour or GF flour

pinch of sea salt

1 cup (225 g) cold non-dairy butter

5-6 tbsp chilled water

Cashew cheese:

1 cup (140 g) raw cashews

1 garlic clove

1 lemon, zest and juice

1 tbsp (11 g) nutritional yeast

pinch of sea salt

¼ cup (62 ml.) water

Toppings:

3 cups (450 g) medley cherry tomatoes, or 3-4 heirloom tomatoes, sliced

basil leaves

To make the cashew cheese, soak the cashews in boiling water for 20 minutes. Drain and add to a blender with all the ingredients and blitz until the cheese is creamy.

Preheat the oven to fan 180’C. Grease the tart pan with coconut oil. To make the pastry, add flour and salt to the food processor and pulse. Cut the non-butter into chunks and add to the food processor. Process until mixed and clumpy. Add the chilled water and process the dough so comes together. Dust the kitchen bench and rolling pin with flour. Take the dough from the processor and form into a ball. Roll the dough ball, turning and rolling the dough until it forms a disk of 30 cm (12 inches) in diameter. Line your tart pan with the dough, trimming the excess with a knife. Bake for 30 minutes until the pastry is golden. Cool before adding the filling.

Before serving, spread the cashew cheese onto the pastry base with the back of a spoon, adding cherry tomatoes onto the mixture. Add basil leaves and serve with a fresh salad.