Around My French Table (34 page)

A note on quantities: This is almost as much an idea as it is a recipe. The quantity of puff pastry is exact, but the measurements for the other ingredients are more approximate—you'll have to judge for yourself how many tomatoes and how much cheese you'd like; ditto, how much tapenade or pesto. And, with a recipe like this, you can make more or fewer tartlets, and you can change the size of them—smaller tartlets are nice for aperitifs or picnics.

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Working on a floured surface, roll the puff pastry out into a square that's about 13 inches on a side. Using a plate or saucer with a diameter of about 6 inches as a guide, and the point of a paring knife, score and then cut out 4 rounds of dough. Line a baking sheet with parchment, lay the rounds on it, and prick them well all over with a fork. Put a second sheet of parchment over the rounds and top with another baking sheet to weight the dough down.

Bake the rounds for 15 minutes. Carefully remove the top baking sheet and the parchment—it can be a bit tricky, so protect your hands. If the rounds are well browned and crisp, they are done; if they look a little pale and not thoroughly baked, return them to the oven, uncovered, to finish baking. Put the baking sheet on a cooling rack and allow the crusts to cool until they're just warm or at room temperature.
(You can bake the rounds up to 8 hours ahead and keep them uncovered at room temperature.)

TO FINISH THE TARTLETS:
Spoon a thin layer of tapenade or pesto over each pastry round, leaving a border of about ½ to 1 inch bare. Next, arrange alternating slices of tomato and cheese in a pinwheel pattern, and put a slice of tomato and/or cheese in the center to fill the hole. Now you can season the tartlets with salt and pepper, drizzle them with oil, finish with a basil leaf and a little balsamic, if you like, and serve them. Or you can hold off on the final toppings and warm the tartlets first.

TO WARM THE TARTLETS:
After adding the slices of tomato and cheese, put the tartlets on a baking sheet and run them under the broiler (keeping them about 5 inches from the heat) until the cheese just barely starts to melt, about 3 minutes; or warm them in a 425-degree-F oven for about 5 minutes. Season them with salt and pepper, drizzle them with olive oil, and top with fresh basil, and, if you like, a drizzle of balsamic.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

SERVING
These are a course unto themselves. If you want to add a little salad along with the basil on top of the tartlets, that would be good but not at all necessary.

STORING
The cut-out and pricked dough for the bases can be stored in the freezer for up to 2 months and baked when you need them. The finished tartlets should be eaten as soon after they're assembled as possible, or the pastry will get soggy.

G
ETTING INTO LE COMPTOIR,
chef Yves Camdeborde's Paris bistro, is so difficult that nabbing a table comes with bragging rights. Since the place is so small, the food so very, very good, and the reservations policy nonexistent, food lovers from every part of the world are willing to stand in line at all hours and in all weather, and they never complain, because this is one place that consistently lives up to its reputation. My apartment is just down the street from Le Comptoir, and I have a personal policy about the restaurant: if I pass it and there's a table free, I take it.

Camdeborde worked in the kitchens of Le Crillon in the days of Christian Constant's reign (see
[>]
for Constant's eggs), when the restaurant had earned the Michelin Guide's top rating of three stars, and he shocked the culinary elite when he decamped to open his own place where, as he said, "neighborhood people could eat great food for the price of a pizza."

Prices have gone up a bit since Yves started, but they are still reasonable. However, whatever pizza he thought his neighborhood friends were eating at the time, it's a sure bet it wasn't like this one. Camdeborde's reading of a pizza is surprising—it's part pissaladière (
[>]
), part salade Niçoise (
[>]
), and part pizza, with a large dose of invention tossed in. The pizza is also colorful and easy to make, especially if you bake the (store-bought) puff pastry rounds in advance.

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Working on a lightly floured surface, roll the puff pastry out to a square about 11 inches on a side. Using a 4½-inch cookie cutter, tart ring, or bowl as a guide, and the point of a sharp paring knife, score and then cut out 4 rounds of dough. Line a baking sheet with parchment, lay the rounds on it, and prick them well with a fork. Put a second sheet of parchment over the rounds and top with a second baking sheet to weight the dough down.

Bake the rounds for 15 minutes. Carefully remove the top baking sheet and the parchment—that can be a bit tricky, so protect your hands. If the rounds are well browned and crisp, they are done; if they look a little pale and are not thoroughly baked, return them to the oven, uncovered, to finish baking. Put the baking sheet on a cooling rack and allow the crusts to cool until they're just warm or at room temperature.
(You can bake the rounds up to 8 hours ahead and keep them covered at room temperature.)

TO FINISH THE TARTLETS:
Cut the mozzarella into 12 thin slices, place them between a double thickness of paper towels, and let them drain while you prepare the rest of the pizza's elements.

If you turned the oven off, bring it back up to 400 degrees F.

Put a medium skillet over medium heat and pour in about 2 teaspoons olive oil. When the oil is warm, toss in the onions and cook, stirring, until they're soft but not colored, about 5 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Pull the pan from the heat and divide the onions among the 4 pastry rounds, spreading them almost to the edge of the circles.

Using a long thin knife, cut the tuna against the grain into 12 thin slices. Brush one side of each slice with a little oil and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.

Top each of the pastry rounds with alternating and slightly overlapping slices of tuna (seasoned side up), the mozzarella, and basil, using 3 slices of tuna and cheese and 3 basil leaves for each pizza. Scatter over the tomatoes, olives, and radishes and sprinkle with the ginger. Very sparingly, drizzle each pizza with a little olive oil, and finish with a pinch each of salt and pepper.

Slide the baking sheet back into the oven and heat the pizzas just until the cheese feels slightly warm to the touch, 1 to 2 minutes—the tuna should remain translucent. Serve warm.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

SERVING
It's best to serve the pizza just a few minutes after it comes from the oven, so that the pastry is fresh and flaky and the tuna just a tad warm.

STORING
You can bake the pastry circles up to 8 hours ahead and keep them at room temperature; ditto the sautéed onions. Once the pizzas are assembled, they should be baked immediately and, once baked, served pronto.

I
'M NOT SURE WHAT THE PARIS
chef Yves Camdeborde had in his mind when he created these paper-thin (or
fine)
puff pastry tarts. Who, except a gifted chef, would think of topping caramely slow-cooked onions with slices of sweet-briny scallops? It's a brilliant combination, a gorgeous dish, and a chef's special that can be re-created perfectly by anyone at home. The tartlets' base is store-bought puff pastry, rolled out, cut, and then baked between two baking sheets to prevent it from doing the very thing it's designed to do: puff.

I find one thing particularly marvelous about this tart: the texture of the scallops. Fresh raw scallops have a smooth and velvety texture that's often difficult to maintain in cooking. No problem here—the thinly sliced scallops are arranged in lovely overlapping circles on top of the onions, and then the tarts are slid into a hot oven for just a few minutes, just the right amount of time to ever so gently warm the scallops and to set their texture at a smidgen past raw. A drizzle of olive oil, and the tarts are ready to serve.

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Working on a floured surface, roll the puff pastry out into a square that's about 13 inches on a side. Using a plate or saucer with a diameter of about 6 inches as a guide, and the point of a sharp paring knife, score and then cut out 4 rounds of dough. Line a baking sheet with parchment, lay the rounds on it, and prick them well all over with a fork. Put a second sheet of parchment over the rounds and top with another baking sheet to weight the dough down.

Bake the rounds for 15 minutes. Carefully remove the top baking sheet and the parchment—it can be a bit tricky, so protect your hands. If the rounds are well browned and crisp, they are done; if they look a little pale and not thoroughly baked, return them to the oven, uncovered, to finish baking. Put the baking sheet on a cooling rack and allow to cool.
(You can hake the rounds up to 8 hours ahead and keep them uncovered at room temperature.)

Place the bacon strips or pancetta in a skillet, put the skillet over medium-low heat, and cook, turning occasionally, until the bacon is crisp on both sides. Transfer to a plate lined with a double layer of paper towels, cover with another double layer of paper towels, and pat dry (set the pan aside). Cut the bacon crosswise into slender strips.

Pour out all but 1 tablespoon of the fat from the skillet, put the skillet over low heat, and add the butter. When it's melted, toss in the onions, season with salt and pepper, and cook, turning frequently, until they are soft and caramel brown. Be patient—this will take about 20 minutes. Stir in the bacon bits, and taste for salt and pepper. Remove from the heat.

TO FINISH THE TARTS:
If you turned the oven off, bring it back up to 400 degrees F.

Remove the little muscle that's attached to the side of each scallop and lay the scallops on a cutting board. Using a sharp paring knife, slice the scallops horizontally into thin petals—you'll probably get 3 slices from each scallop.

Divide the onion-bacon mixture among the 4 crusts, using the back of a spoon to spread the onions evenly all the way to the edges. Using an equal number of scallop slices for each tart, arrange the scallops in concentric circles over the onions, slightly overlapping the slices. Season the scallops with salt and pepper and drizzle each tart with a little olive oil.

Slide the baking sheet into the oven for 3 to 4 minutes, just long enough to warm the scallops. Serve immediately.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

SERVING
The tarts are tasty and beautiful on their own; they need nothing but forks and knives.