“This is a stunningly simple little tart to have as a starter or a main course. The tiny amount of grated lemon really makes a difference here. Serve a big home-grown salad on the side and you have the perfect summer dish.”

Serves 2

Prep time: 20 minutes (plus 2 hours for drying the tomato); cooking time: 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS

2 saucer-sized circles of puff pastry, cut out about 0.5 cm thick

2 medium courgettes, washed and thinly sliced

4 tablespoons crowdie

Zest from half a lemon

1 tomato

A few thyme leaves

1 clove garlic, bashed

1 tablespoon of olive oil, plus extra for the tomato

Good salt and pepper

METHOD

Heat oven to 110°C.

Remove the eye from the tomato and cut it in half. Sprinkle with thyme, salt and a drizzle of olive oil and cook slowly in the oven for 2 hours.

Turn the oven up to 180°C.

Place the pastry discs on an ovenproof tray.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and add the garlic and courgettes and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes to just get a flavour of garlic on the slices of courgette. Season and remove from the pan. Set to one side.

Next, use an electric whisk to whip the crowdie in a bowl until it’s nice and smooth. This will take about 2 minutes. Add the lemon zest and some pepper and place into a piping bag. If you don’t have a piping bag, use a spoon to smear a layer of crowdie over the pastry discs. Retain some crowdie as a topping.

Arrange the sautéed courgettes on top of the crowdie and season. Pop in the oven and bake for 15 minutes until the edges of the pastry are golden brown. Check the bottom isn’t soggy; if so bake for a little longer.

Remove the tarts from the oven and let them rest for a few minutes, then pipe the remaining crowdie into the centre of each tart and place a dried tomato on top. Finish with a trickle of olive oil and serve.