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Makes 6 squares

I think I snitched this from a magazine, because it looks so beautiful and clever and is actually very simple to make on a Saturday morning in the deli. There are two ways my trusty customers devour this: either they grab a slice on the run, as if from a pizza stand, or they eat a square with a spinach and olive salad, more as a brunch. It’s a versatile tart. I’ve also made it for a light supper, along with a good Sunday night film, because it’s easy-peasy.

The quail’s eggs are just so lovable for their dinkiness. Being made of pancetta and these mini eggs means that the tart needs a little preplanning. Chinese supermarkets sell quail’s eggs, as do good butchers and niche delis. Smoked pancetta is also sold at good delis, preserved along with herbs and peppercorns. So it’s the kind of thing to cook if you know in advance that you are having a sleepover or want to impress a guest. Slice it into squares, if you are all on the run first thing, as I do in the deli. Regarding the puff pastry, I prefer the ready-rolled kind, but the thicker slabs are more widely available. It depends what you can get your hands on.

250g puff pastry (defrosting bought ready-rolled puff pastry will take 1¹/₂ hours)

some plain flour for rolling

10 thin slices of smoked pancetta

6 cherry tomatoes

a little full-fat milk for glazing

6 quail’s eggs

Preheat your oven to 160°C/Gas 2. Ideally, you will have bought ready-rolled pastry. If not, roll out the pastry slab on a floured surface so that it is big enough to cover a baking tray that measures about 20 × 30cm. Spread the pastry out over the baking tray so that it comes right up to the edges. Lay the pancetta on the pastry, leaving a couple of centimetres clear all the way round which you should then incise with a sharp knife so that the pastry can rise around the pancetta to form a crust. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and lay them on top of the pancetta, cut side up. Using your fingers (or a pastry brush if you have one), wipe a little milk around the pastry edge to help it brown. Place the tart in the oven for 10 minutes, or until the edges are puffing up around the pancetta and browning just a little. (You may need to further incise the pastry to release so that it can puff, after it’s been in the oven for 5 minutes.)

Remove the tart from the oven and carefully crack the quail’s eggs evenly over the pancetta layer (the shells have much more give than our more familiar brittle chicken shells). Return to the oven for just long enough for the eggs to solidify, which will be 4 or 5 minutes. The pancetta should now be getting crisp and dark too. It is a matter of a few minutes, though, so keep a close eye on the oven.

When the tart is ready, slice it into 6 pieces with a sharp knife. It is at its best when the yolks are still soft in the middle, and ooze out over the pancetta in your hands.