Greekish
By Georgina Hayden
Riganada tart with anchovies
Not Too Tricky
serves 8
About the recipe
Riganada is a popular Kefalonian snack, and you’ll find variations of it across Greece — it’s not dissimilar to the more well-known dakos from Crete. It is usually a piece of stale bread, toast or a rusk, that is topped with seasoned tomatoes and a variety of extras including capers, olives, sardines or feta. It will always include lots of oregano, for which the Greek work is rigani, hence the name. This tart is my riff on this dish. I like to prepare it ahead of having people round. It’s simple and meditative to make (lining up those tomato rows) and it is exactly the kind of thing I want to snack on when having a drink — satisfyingly salty.
Recipe From
Ingredients
400g ripe vine tomatoes
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 red onion
500g puff pastry
1 large egg
30g anchovies or sardines, in oil (or capers for a vegetarian version)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Olive oil (optional)
A few sprigs of oregano or basil
Method
Preheat the oven to 210°C/190°C fan/gas mark 6½ and line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper. Finely slice the tomatoes with a sharp knife (I find a small serrated knife is best), so they are less than 5mm thick. Place in a large colander and toss the tomato slices with ½ teaspoon of sea salt. Leave the colander in the sink. Peel and finely slice the red onion. Roll the puff pastry into a rectangle, about 32cm × 25cm, and score a border 2cm from the edge. Transfer to the lined baking sheet.
Whisk the egg with a splash of water and brush the border of the pastry twice. Lay three or four rows of the sliced tomatoes inside the pastry border, nestling in slices of onion as you go. When it’s all done, lay on the anchovies or capers. Sprinkle over the dried oregano and drizzle with two tablespoons of the oil from the anchovy tin or jar (or use olive oil).
Pop the tray in the oven for 25—30 minutes, until the border is golden all over and nicely risen. Leave the tart to cool, then tear over the oregano or basil leaves and cut into thin slices. Serve at aperitivo time — basically, this is really nice with a glass of something very cold and a bit fizzy.
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