Savory Zucchini Tarte Tatin with Fresh Goat Cheese & Honey Thyme

Step 1 of 8: Prepare the shortcrust pastry

 

Combine the flour and salt in a bowl. Add the cold butter and quickly rub it in with your fingertips until fine crumbs form. Add the egg and 1 tbsp cold water to start, then quickly knead everything into a smooth dough. If the dough is still too dry, add a little more water, one tablespoon at a time.

Shape the dough into a flat disc, wrap it in cling film, and chill for at least 30 minutes. This allows the dough to relax and makes it especially easy to roll out evenly later.

Step 2 of 8: Prepare the vegetables and dough

 

Preheat the oven to 190 °C top/bottom heat. Wash the courgettes and cut them into slices about 5 mm thick. Halve the cherry tomatoes and pick the thyme leaves from the stems.

Roll out the chilled shortcrust pastry on a lightly floured work surface or between two sheets of baking paper to about 3 mm thick and slightly larger than the serving pan. If you roll out the dough on baking paper, you can later place it over the vegetables especially easily. Keep chilled until ready to use.

Step 3 of 8: Fry the courgettes until golden brown

 

Heat the ovenproof serving pan over a medium heat and melt the olive oil and butter in it. Then place the courgette slices in the pan, ideally in a single layer. They may overlap slightly, but should mostly have direct contact with the base of the pan so they brown nicely all over and develop delicate roasted flavours.

Fry the courgettes for about 3–4 minutes until they turn golden. Then carefully turn the slices and cook for another 2 minutes.

Step 4 of 8: Caramelise the vegetables

 

Now drizzle the honey and brown sugar evenly over the courgettes. Nestle the halved cherry tomatoes, cut side down, between the courgette slices and season everything with salt, pepper, and the thyme leaves.

Cook the vegetables for another 2–3 minutes until the honey and sugar caramelise gently and the courgettes and tomatoes take on a beautiful gloss. At the same time, any released liquid can reduce slightly – this keeps the flavours concentrated and the pastry pleasantly crisp later on.

Step 5 of 8: Cover with shortcrust pastry

 

Now remove the pan from the heat. Carefully place the rolled-out shortcrust pastry over the vegetables. If the dough was rolled out on baking paper, it can be turned over the pan very easily with the help of the paper. Then carefully peel off the baking paper.

Use a wooden spoon or dough scraper to tuck the overhanging edges between the rim of the pan and the vegetables. This helps the pastry encase the filling and later gives it the typical edge of a tarte Tatin. Then prick the dough two or three times with a fork. This allows steam to escape during baking and helps the base bake up evenly crisp.

Step 6 of 8: Bake until golden brown

 

Place the serving pan directly into the preheated oven and bake the tart for 30–35 minutes, until the shortcrust pastry has turned an even golden brown and is crisp.

Step 7 of 8: Leave to rest and turn out

 

Take the tart out of the oven and leave it to rest for about 5 minutes. This allows the caramelised vegetables to settle slightly and makes the tart especially easy to turn out afterwards.

Place a large wooden board or serving platter over the pan and hold both firmly with oven gloves. Carefully but quickly invert the pan, then lift it away slowly. If any pieces of vegetables remain in the pan, simply loosen them carefully and place them back on the tart.

Step 8 of 8: Plate up and serve

 

Use two spoons to loosely dollop the fresh goat's cheese over the still-warm tart. Drizzle with honey and finish with fresh thyme and, if you like, a little lemon zest.

This savoury courgette tarte Tatin tastes best warm or slightly warm. A green leaf salad turns it into a wonderfully light dinner.