I'm Using Tomatoes in This Amazing Dessert—You Will Too

I have long been an evangelist for the magic of a quality canned tomato. Often, if you are not growing your own, or don't have access to a local farmers market in summer to grab fresh ripe tomatoes, a canned tomato is your best bet. Especially if you source premium tomatoes imported from Europe. And while I love to use these canned beauties in all sorts of savory preparations from bruschetta and soup to pasta sauces and pizza, my new summer dessert is using them to make a sweet tomato tart.

Related—I Made Three Recipes Out of One Tomato—Here's How

Tomatoes, as you may know, are technically a fruit, and if you have ever made tomato jam, you know that they can be wonderful when used for their sweetness. This tomato tart is a lighter tart in the vein of a chess-style pie, but fluffier. And while you wouldn't necessarily taste and instantly think tomato, once you know, you know.

Related—How to Turn Any Tomato (Even a Sad Grocery Store One) Into Everything Delicious

I use a store-bought crust more often than not, usually a Ready to Roll sweet crust disc, since I keep them in my freezer and I like the flake and crunch, but you can use any pastry crust you like. It also works well with a sweet pastry crust. I serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. If you do grow your own tomatoes, you can put them through a food mill to remove seeds and skin, then cook down until they deepen in color and are a pureed texture.

Serves 8

1 2-inch deep 9-inch tart pan lined with the pastry of your choosing, chilled

2/3 cup almond meal or flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch ground clove

Pinch ground nutmeg

Pinch sea salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 ounces dark rum (you can sub orange juice)

1 14-ounce can tomato puree, preferably a premium brand from Europe 

4 eggs, separated

7 ounces granulated sugar

1. Heat your oven to 350°, with a sheet pan in the oven preheating.

2. Mix the almond flour, spices, and salt in a small bowl.

3. Mix the rum and vanilla into the tomato puree.

4. Beat your egg whites to stiff peaks, then transfer to a different bowl. You do not need to clean the bowl or whisk attachment. Add the egg yolks and sugar to your mixer bowl and beat with the whisk attachment on your stand mixer on high until they are pale in color and have doubled in volume.

5. Switch to the paddle attachment. Add the dry mix, followed by the tomato mix until well blended.

6. Remove the bowl and fold in the egg whites by hand with a spatula or large balloon whisk in three additions.

7. Gently pour the filling into the chilled crust and put in the oven on the preheated sheet pan. Bake 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, rotating the pan as needed, until the filling is puffed like a souffle browned and cracked, and still has a bit of movement in the center. Let cool on a rack. The filling will collapse.

8. Dust with powdered sugar and serve at room temperature with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.