Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart with Thyme Recipe

I'm not even trying to pretend that this is my recipe. It's Delia's, of course. I've only very, very slightly played around with the amounts and place my tomatoes differently on the pie - just because I think it looks nicer my way :) In any case, it's a beautiful recipe for showcasing all those lovely, ripe, juicy local tomatoes that abound at the moment. Highly recommended!

Roasted Tomato and Goat's Cheese Tart with Thyme
(Tomati-kitsejuustupirukas)
Serves six to eight

500 grams puff pastry, rolled
150 g soft and creamy goat cheese
4 tsp fresh thyme leaves
2 fresh garlic cloves, minced
500 g ripe plum tomatoes
extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
Maldon sea salt

Roll out the puff pastry to 30x40 cm rectangle and place on a slightly oiled baking sheet. Carefully score a line about 1 cm from the edge along the pastry, but do not cut through! This will help the filling to stay inside the pastry and the edges to puff up nicely.

Mix the goat cheese, minced garlic, thyme leaves, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Spread the mixture evenly on the puff pastry sheet (remaining inside the scored line).

Cut the tomatoes into 3-5 mm slices and place nicely next to each other on top of the goat cheese. Sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper and drizzle some olive oil on top.

Bake at a pre-heated 180 Centigrade oven for 45-50 minutes, until the pasty is golden and tomatoes have dried up a little.

Before serving, scatter some more thyme leaves on top. Cut into squares and serve.

Beetroot and Potato Salad Recipe

I love those Estonian birthday salads - the classic potato salad (a version of what's known as "Russian salad" or "Salad Olivier" elsewhere) and rosolye. But for everyday simple salads these are too time-consuming - cutting the numerous ingredients into uniform tiny cubes takes time and patience, and sometimes I don't have that. That's when the more humble and quicker versions come handy. Here's a quick salad recipe that either makes a light lunch on its own, or a more substantial meal alongside grilled meat or meatballs, for example. I also love this salad on a thick slice of sour rye bread..

Beetroot and Potato Salad
(Peedi-kartulisalat)
Serves 4

2 boiled beetroots, peeled
6 boiled potatoes, peeled
1 large salad onion
salt
sour cream
fresh chives, finely chopped

Peel the beets and potatoes and either chop into small cubes or grate coarsely.
Finely mince the onion.
Mix beets, potatoes and onions in a bowl. Add enough sour cream to bind everything together. Season with salt.
Let the flavours develop for 30 minutes in a refridgerator.
Sprinkle plenty of chopped chives on top before serving.

Apricot Clafoutis, with an Estonian twist

Last weekend we managed to buy some really beautiful French apricots at the market. We made a batch of David's Fresh Apricot Ice Cream, and K. made couple of jars of his delicious apricot jam. We still had plenty of apricots left, however, so I decided to make an apricot clafoutis.

Well, it's not a traditional French clafoutis. But it looks similar enough, and the idea is very similar, too. Sprinkle some soft fruit in a buttered dish, pour the batter over and bake. The 'Estonian twist' here is the addition of our much-loved 'kohupiim' or curd cheese (sold as 'farmer's cheese' in the US). It gives the batter some body and a nice tangy flavour. You can use ricotta instead, but add an tablespoon or two of sour cream then as well.

Apricot 'clafoutis' with farmer's cheese
(Kohupiima-aprikoosivorm)
Serves 6



250 g fine curd cheese/farmer's cheese or ricotta
2 large eggs
200 g sour cream
3 Tbsp plain/all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp soft brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla sugar or vanilla extract
a cup of sliced fresh apricots
cinnamon, for dusting
butter for the dish

Wash and drain the apricots, then halve, remove the stones and cut each apricot halve into three slices.
Butter a medium-sized oven dish, scatter apricots in the dish.
Mix farmer's cheese, eggs, sour cream, sugar, vanilla sugar and flour in a bowl, until you've got a uniform batter. Pour over the apricots (or pour the batter in first and then scatter the apricot slices on top - it's up to you).
Dust with some cinnamon and extra sugar, if you wish.
Bake at 180 Centigrade for 45-50 minutes, until the dish is cooked through and it's golden on top.
Serve warm or cool before serving.