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| My attempt at Surprise Tatin from Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty Cookbook I strapped on my face mask, grasped my shopping list and entered the Stop & Shop. My goal was to get out of there as fast as possible. Following the blue masking tape one-way arrow on the floor, I was guided into the produce department. Tomatoes were on my list, but most of them looked pathetic, anemic, inedible. The only ones that suggested any sign of life were the cherry tomatoes. Even though they appeared to be the least worst, they were encased in plastic like candy. Anyway, "Nature Sweet Cherubs" or nothing. So, Nature Sweet Cherubs it was. As I placed a package into my cart, I noticed they were Buy One Get One Free. Sure, why not? 
When I got home, I realized (no surprise) that I now had more cherry tomatoes than the three of us could realistically eat before they spoiled. So I went on a hunt for a decent recipe to get out ahead before they rotted and I had to throw them out. I found a recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks, Plenty, by Yotam Ottolenghi, a deliciously creative Israel vegetarian chef.
Besides writing cookbooks, Ottolenghi runs six restaurants in London. This past October, I was in London and made it a point, actually a pilgrimage, to eat in one of his restaurants. Because it was hard to get a reservation, I bypassed the closest ones and instead went 20 minutes out of my way, from Mayfair to Spitalfields, just to get to try his food. It was for an early lunch and we ordered shakshuka, a one-skillet dish commonly eaten in Israel for breakfast. It's made of eggs baked in a tomato sauce spiced with cumin, paprika and cayenne.
Now being COVID-quarantined in my kitchen, trying to figure out what to do with this package of cherry tomatoes that I don't need and didn't buy, I got to transport myself (by memory) back to London, to Ottolenghi's cool restaurant, surrounded by people sharing space, eating and socializing.
With that happy thought, I paged through Plenty. I had a hunch that Yotam would have a recipe to deal with the "get one" extra pack of cherry tomatoes. He did. It's called Surprise Tatin. You roast the cherry tomatoes in the oven and while they cook, you make a caramel to place in the bottom of a pie dish. I deserve an F for my caramel because it was glumpy and would not spread as it was supposed to. However, it's the first thing into the pan so except for my photo and the fact that I'm writing about it, nobody would know that I got it wrong.
 I also had to make a pie crust (not my strong suit, but I followed his directions carefully). The roasted tomatoes go into the pie dish on top of the caramel, then followed by boiled sliced potatoes, sautéed onions and a little fresh oregano. Then, the whole thing gets topped by the crust and baked. |
The final step, which could have been a disaster but wasn't, is to turn the pie pan upside down and serve it so that the crust is on the bottom. It worked. The verdict: The Surprise Tatin was good...but I would have used a little more salt. That's an easy fix.
I can't resist saying that it's no surprise Ottolenghi's Surprise Tatin is a winner.
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