Torta de tomate (Spanish tomato and tuna tart)

Torta de tomate is a very typical dish from the region my dad is from, Castellon. I can't count how many times I've eaten this great concotion of tomato, tuna, onions, peppers and a crispy dough. After so many years enjoying my aunt's torta, I had to make it myself. 

There's two things that make this tart delicious. The yeast in the dough comes from beer, just like that, plain beer, which gives it a great flavor. And then there's the tomatoes, cut into pieces and cooked until they fall apart to render a sauce with some chunks.You can't beat slow cooked tomatoes.

When I asked her my aunt for her go to recipe, she told me it actually comes from my grandmother and it passed on to her. And now it's mine, and hopefully one day I'll pass it along as well. Now I'm giving it to you. I promise it won't disappoint you if you try it. The original recipe has bell peppers but I have a really hard time digesting them. Feel free to throw a couple of green and red in, or not. This tart is very versatile, adjust it to your taste. 

Don't cheat in this recipe. Get good ripe plum or roma tomatoes. Nice olive oil and some pine nuts. No canned anything, it's worth it.

For the topping
8-9 tomatoes, cut into cubes
(2 red and 2 green bell peppers if you want to add them)
1 medium onion, chopped
olive oil
pine nuts

Cook the onion at very low heat until translucent and then add the tomatoes (and peppers). Keep the heat low and cook the tomatoes until they fall apart. You don't want to peel the tomatoes because the skin adds another layer of texture to the tart. When the tomatoes are fully cooked, remove from the heat, break down the tuna into little pieces and mix it in.

For the dough, I know this is not gonna sound like a recipe, but it really works...
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup beer
A pinch of salt
All purpose flour

Mix together the olive oil and the beer in a bowl and start adding flour, about half a cup at a time, until the dough comes together. You'll need about 2-3 cups of flour, but really just keep adding until you get a dough that it's not sticky. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes until elastic. Let it rest for about 15 min and then roll it very thin until you get a rectangle with about 1/2 cm thickness.

To assemble the tart

Spread the tomato mixture over the dough. Sprinkle with a generous amount of pine nuts. Cook at 350 F for about 30 minutes or until the dough is crispy and the pine nuts are slightly toasted. Eat cold or warm.