I recently got back in touch with a friend who I lost sight of for a few years, and in the meantime she divorced her Dutch husband and married a lovely French man, moved to another part of town, and is pregnant with their first (her second) baby. Things can change!

Anyway, the reason I'm telling you this is that when we went over to their lovely house for lunch last week, we were served a 'Tarte à la Tomato et à la Moutarde', an utterly delicious quiche made with only 4 ingredients: puff pastry, mustard, tomatoes, and herbs. Apparently every self-respecting French housewife knows how to make this tarte, and takes pride in perfecting it to the sublime. Funny I had never heard of it before!

Yesterday I was preparing a picnic with my girls, and we decided to try to make the Tarte à la tomate et à la moutarde -- and it was indeed so super simple to make and just as delicious as the week before.

Here's the how-to:

Tarte à la tomate et à la moutarde

• Puff pastry

• Mustard (Maille original works great)

• About 5 ripe tomatoes

• Herbs Provençal (a mixture of dried thyme, oregano, basil, sage, rosemary, and savory)

Cover a greased quiche bottom with puff pastry and pre-bake about 10 minutes on 175ºC (450ºF). In the meantime, slice your tomatoes thinly.

Take crust out of oven and cover royally with mustard (they say you shouldn't see the puff pastry anymore but I used a bit less, about 2 to 3 tablespoons). Layer the tomatoes over the mustard and sprinkle the herbs on top, together with a bit of sea salt and a sprinkle of olive oil.  

Bake in oven for 45 minutes (if needed, cover with aluminium foil halfway).

Bon appétit!

xxx Esther