Laurent Mariotte’s squash tarte tatin: a sweet-savoury bake for autumn
French cook Laurent Mariotte shares his squash tarte tatin with red onions, a cider vinegar caramel and puff pastry, baked 45 minutes at 170°C.
Photo: Ciao Chow Linda
French cook and TV food presenter Laurent Mariotte has shared his take on the tarte tatin for autumn. His version mixes sweet and savoury notes, built on red kuri squash, red onions and all-butter puff pastry. It takes about ten minutes to prepare and around 45 minutes in the oven.
Three steps carry the whole recipe. The squash wedges are arranged into a tight rosette with the skin left on. The caramel is made with lightly salted butter and deglazed with cider vinegar. The tart is then turned out at the right temperature, not before.
A short list of ingredients
The quantities given are for a tin of about 28 cm. You need one medium red kuri squash, two red onions, 100 g of blond cane sugar, 10 cl of cider vinegar, 100 g of lightly salted butter and one ready-rolled sheet of all-butter puff pastry.
Start with the onions. Slice them thinly and let them soften for five minutes in a little butter without letting them brown. Red onions give a gentler, deeper flavour than yellow ones.
The squash only needs a good wash and does not have to be peeled. Remove the seeds and cut it into 12 to 16 even wedges. Mariotte suggests trimming the ends slightly so each piece forms a neat arc for the rosette. He keeps the offcuts for a homemade soup.
Caramel and baking
The caramel is the technical heart of the dish. Melt the cane sugar with a little water until it turns amber, then pour in the 10 cl of cider vinegar and let it reduce by half. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the butter to get a smooth caramel, then pour it into the tin.
Arrange the squash wedges tightly in a rosette and spread the onions over them. Lay the pastry on top, tuck the edges in well and pierce a small hole in the centre. Bake for 45 minutes in an oven preheated to 170°C, until the pastry is golden and the squash is tender.
In the oven the unpeeled squash roasts slowly in the caramel and turns almost creamy while still holding its shape. The vinegar’s acidity offsets the sweetness of the sugar.
Turning out and serving
Mariotte stresses that the tart must rest for a few minutes before it is turned out. Flip it while it is scalding and the filling slides, with the runny caramel flooding the plate. Once it is warm, turn it onto a dish wider than the tin so the rosette comes out intact.
The tart can be served as a starter, as a light main course with a salad, or as a rustic dessert, as the recipe on Laurent Mariotte’s official website also suggests. He likes to serve it with a simple dressed green salad or a spoonful of thick crème fraîche.
Leftovers keep in the fridge and can be reheated gently in the oven at around 150°C. Two mistakes ruin the result: letting the caramel burn, which makes it bitter, and leaving out the cider vinegar, which balances the flavours.
