INGREDIENTS:

• Pastry:
• 210g (1 cups) self-raising flour
• 60g ( cup) cake flour
• 5ml (1 tsp) salt
• 125ml ( cup) cold water
• 125ml ( cup) olive oil
• 60ml ( cup) black olives, pitted and finely chopped
• Topping:
• 4-5 firm red tomatoes, sliced
• Generous pinch of caster sugar
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Olive oil, for drizzling
• 45ml (3 tbsp) freshly grated parmesan, plus extra shavings to serve
• Fresh basil, to serve

METHOD:

This versatile, easy pastry is good for both savoury and sweet applications. It can be doubled and frozen. Make a wholewheat version by replacing the cake flour with wholewheat. If you want a sweet dough, add about 60ml ( cup) caster sugar to the flour and salt. I have added chopped olives here for a different flavour.

Serves 4-6

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours and salt. Whisk together the water and olive oil and pour into the flour, adding the olives. Using a wooden spoon, mix until you have a dough. Don't knead the dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll out and line the base of a greased 23cm tart pan with a removable base, or a rectangular pan.

Bake the pastry blind (line with greaseproof paper and weigh this down with dried beans) in a preheated oven at 200°C for 15 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and return to oven for a further 5 minutes.

Sprinkle the tomatoes with sugar and season. Arrange the slices over the tart to cover the pastry. Drizzle with a little oil and sprinkle with the grated parmesan. Return to the oven for 5 minutes. Slice and serve garnished with the parmesan shavings and basil.