Roasted Tomato and Goats Cheese Tart

It's Friday night, no time pressures, so cooking can be a bit more relaxed and adventurous. This tomato tart is a really impressive looking meal, but it's not difficult to do, especially if you buy ready rolled puff pastry.  It's a great recipe for a vegetarian dinner party.  I think the first time I had goats cheese was in France, I thought it was revolting. It's definitely an acquired taste, however I have now acquired the taste and I love it. We have a friend here with his two children tonight. I know this dish is more of an adult taste, so I roasted a small chicken and did some potato wedges for the children.  Not a recipe to try for my friend Jane, who tried goats cheese for the first time when she came here for dinner.  I think she spat it out and claimed she could still taste the goat.  Come to think of it she doesn't like tomatoes either. Sorry Jane, you may skip this page. This is a recipe from Delia Smiths,"Vegetarian Collection"

Ingredients

1 lb 10 oz ripe tomatoes

150g soft goats cheese

4 teaspoons fresh chopped thyme, plus a few sprigs ( I used dried thyme )

1 x 375g pack of fresh ready rolled puff pastry

2 cloves of garlic peeled and crushed (I used 1)

2 tbsp of olive oil

salt and pepper

large baking tray 12 x 16 inches lightly oiled

Method

Heat the oven to 190C

Unwrap the pastry and place it on the baking sheet.  Then using a sharp knife carefully score a line on the pastry, about 1cm in from the edge, all the way around but be careful not to cut all the way through.

Tip the goats cheese into a small bowl and add the chopped garlic and a good seasoning of salt and pepper. Give it a mix and carefully spread the cheese mixture evenly all over the surface of the pastry right up to the edge.

Thinly slice the tomatoes and arrange them on top of the goats cheese in overlapping lines lengthways.  After that season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil

Bake in the middle of the oven for 55 min until the pastry is golden and the tomatoes are roasted and slightly charred at the edges. If you are going to serve the tart warm, leave to settle for about 10 minutes before cutting into squares.