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For the oven roasted tomatoes:
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Cut the cores out of the tomatoes and use a knife to make a very shallow X on the bottom of the tomato.
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Dip them for not more than 60 seconds into salted boiling water, then quickly fish them out and place in ice-cold water to prevent further cooking.
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Peel them, cut in half, carefully scrape the seeds out and place them cut side down on paper towels for a few minutes to get rid of the excess liquid.
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Then turn them around, sprinkle with salt and pepper and place on the baking parchment (drizzled with olive oil) cut side down.
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Sprinkle some extra salt and pepper on the top of tomatoes and scatter fresh thyme (generously) on top.
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Cut the garlic cloves in half and place them among the tomatoes.
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Finally, drizzle some extra olive oil on top.
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Roast the tomatoes in a 140 degrees C oven for 33.5 hours.
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At the last hour, turn the cut side up.
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They will come out looking a bit old (wrinkled and all) but thats exactly how they need to be.
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I have used large tomatoes here, small ones will roast faster so 2.5 -3 hours maybe enough.
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To make the tarts:
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If using frozen puff pastry, thaw beforehand (will take about 30 minutes).
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Peel the onion, cut in half and slice thinly.
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Melt the butter in a heavy-based pan and saute the onion until transparent (about 10 minutes).
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Then add the sugar, caramelize for 3-4 minutes.
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Take off the heat, add the goat cheese and mix well.
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This way the goat cheese will be easier to spread.
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Top the pastry sheets with onion-cheese mixture leaving 0.5 cm on all sides empty.
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Nicely arrange the oven-roasted tomatoes on top.
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If using vinegar, add a drop on each tomato before baking.
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Scatter some fresh thyme on top and bake everything in a 200 degrees C oven for about 20-25 minutes.
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Check halfway to see if the pastry is rising well; depending on the oven they may take a bit more or less time.
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Tips:
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1.
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Tomatoes can be roasted the day before and stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
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2.
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These will make 4 hearty starters, but dividing each in 4 (before baking) will make 16 nice small canapes.
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3.
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Dont be tempted to use more than a few drops of the vinegar.
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Ive used balsamic cream vinegar with fig flavor, but in case you dont have cream vinegar, skip it altogether.
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4.
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These tarts can also be made with roasted bell peppers, then adding just a bit more of balsamic cream vinegar.
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You can also use raw tomatoes (peeled and de-seeded), which will still be nice, just without the depth of flavour.
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Note: The photo was taken when using fresh tomatoes for making these tarts.
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Oven-roasted tomatoes will have a darker, more intense colour, and taste much much better!
