A potato tart seemed as redundant to me as an actual fact or a free gift. Carbs on carbs. But something about the picture in Plenty—where this recipe comes from—caught my eye. A perfect circle of halved new potatoes, boiled and then roasted with cherry tomatoes, caramelized onions and flecks of oregano, standing at attention for the photo. Perfect, save one potato caught sideways, a casualty of the post-bake flip that brings upside down tarts right-side up.   

Yotam Ottolenghi, whose namesake London eatery and subsequent cookbooks have changed the way people—me chief among them—think about vegetables, has done it again. A simple yet—for me—unlikely combination that delivers a marriage beyond the sum of its parts. 

I’ve done my best to recreate the picture here but my desire for clean edges and sharp contrast doesn’t align with the yellow, homey-hued photos you’ll find in Plenty. Beyond the potato tart, recipes like caramelized endive with gruyère and sweet potato wedges with lemongrass crème fraîche will get you excited to experiment with vegetables. 

This potato tart was a dinner party staple for me for at least a month if that’s any indication of what a crowd-pleaser it is! I hope you will enjoy it as well. Don’t be intimidated by all the steps—thankfully the puff pastry is store-bought—as it’s all worth it. Plus, if you’re not making it for guests, you’ll have a mighty fine lunch for the next few days. 

Potato Tart

1 pint cherry tomatoes
2 T olive oil, plus more for drizzling 
Salt and pepper
1 lb new potatoes
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3 T sugar
2 tsp butter
3 oregano sprigs
6 oz goat cheese
1 sheet puff pastry

Preheat oven to 275°F. Cut cherry tomatoes in half and place on a rimmed baking sheet skin side down. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake 45 minutes. They will look a bit dry, will have lost their structure and, when pinched, give way easily. When tomatoes come out of the oven, increase temperature to 400°F. 

Pull puff pastry out of the freezer to let it thaw.  Prepare a 9-inch round cake pan. Trace the bottom of the pan on a sheet of parchment paper. Cut out the circle. Spray the bottom of the pan with cooking spray or rub with a bit of oil and lay the circle of parchment paper down on top. This will keep the parchment paper in place as you spoon the caramel over the bottom and layer in the ingredients.

Once the tomatoes are in the oven, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and boil for 25 minutes until fork can pierce through skin easily but before the potato crumbles once pierced. Drain and let cool. Cut off the ends and then cut  in half, or for larger potatoes, into slices about 1 inch thick. 

Sauté the onion over medium-low heat in oil with some salt until golden brown, 20 minutes or more. The longer you cook them, the more they will cook down, brown, and develop a sweeter flavor. 

In a small saucepan, cook the butter and sugar together on high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until a light caramel color is reached. QUICKLY, pour and scrape the caramel into the prepared cake pan and swirl or try to smooth the caramel to evenly coat the bottom of the pan. Do this as best you can since the caramel will harden quickly and BE CAREFUL, the caramel will be HOT. (For some reason I always insist on tasting the caramel and my index finger tip still burns red from not realizing just how hot the caramel gets!) 

Sprinkle oregano leaves atop the caramel. Lay the potato slices down and gently press the onions and tomatoes into the crevices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Use a fork to break up the goat cheese and spread evenly atop the vegetables. Lay the puff pasty atop the cheese and tuck in the ends or trim a bit if there is a lot of extra around the edges. 

Bake tart in 400°F oven for 25 minutes. Then reduce temperature to 350°F and bake for another 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the tart cool for a few minutes before laying a plate on top and quickly flipping the the tart over onto the plate. Serve hot or warm.