Cucumber soup and tomato tart: Trine Hahnemann’s summer recipes

Summer in Scandinavia is summed up by a sense of abundance: midsummer night hardly gets dark, the light is beautiful and the blackbirds’ song marks the end of the day. In contrast to the long winter, summer invites being outdoors, lighter meals and as many fresh vegetables as possible.

These two recipes make a perfect summer evening (beach house optional but recommended): a cold cucumber soup followed by a tart topped with raw tomatoes, a smooth cream and crisp pastry. Velbekomme! At home in Denmark Trine Hahnemann uses rygeost, a fresh smoked cream cheese often made at home; where that’s hard to find it can be swapped for ricotta.

The tart is built on a rye-enriched pastry made from plain and coarse rye flour rubbed with butter and mixed with yoghurt, chilled, blind-baked and then filled with a ricotta and crème fraîche mix. Arrange sliced tomatoes in a circle on the cream, drizzle with olive oil, scatter spring onion and dill, season with salt and pepper, then slice and serve.

Denmark, Scandinavia

trine hahnemann, cucumber soup, tomato tart, rygeost, ricotta, rye pastry, crème fraîche, spring onion, dill, olive oil