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RECIPE: Tomato Tart
Over the weekend, I hooked up a tomato tart that was pretty solid for a self-professed non-baker.
RECIPE: Tomato Tart
Over the weekend, I hooked up a tomato tart that was pretty solid for a self-professed non-baker. If sifting dry ingredients and stand-mixer attachments have the same unnerving effect on you, this is a recipe you’ll dig; the open-faced tart comes together in about an hour, only 10 minutes of which is spent physically doing something, and results in a real showstopper that’ll have dinner guests prostrating themselves at your seemingly talented feet.
For this recipe, any ready-made pie crust will do. Any tomatoes will work, too, as long as they're not overripe — the oven will turn them to mush — and are the best you can afford. Since tomatoes are the feature ingredient, you don’t want to skimp by buying any insipid supermarket specimens; a mix of local heirlooms gives the tart a dynamic range of flavor, not to mention a striking ROYGBIV effect. I used three medicine ball-sized Down Home Acres heirlooms, two medium reds from my generous neighbor's community garden plot behind Passyunk's Older Adult Center and a pint of multicolored Green Meadow cherries, pears and grapes. This was enough to fill my tart. If you want to keep uniform look, go with eight large tomatoes or two pints of little guys.
Tomato Tart
Go Get This:
3 large tomatoes, sliced 1/4-inch thick
2 medium tomatoes, sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
1 ready-made pie crust
1 tablespoon butter, melted
Pecorino, freshly grated
Handful fresh basil leaves
Handful fresh thyme leaves
Drizzle olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Now Do This:
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Lay out pie crust in a greased pie pan, pressing the crust into the edges. With a pastry brush, brush the crust all around with melted butter and season with salt and pepper.
Layer the sliced tomatoes on the crust, working in a circle so they slightly overlap in a scale pattern. Season each layer with salt, pepper, grated Pecorino and half the herbs.
In a separate mixing bowl, combine the cherry or grape tomatoes with salt, pepper, Pecorino and remaining herbs and toss to coat. Add on top of the sliced tomatoes, spreading around to create an even top layer of the tart. Cover with a thin layer of Pecorino.
Take the edges of the pie crust and fold them over the tomato filling, crimping to seal. Brush the crust with butter and bake for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until the top layer of tomatoes become caramelized. (If the pastry starts getting too brown, cover with foil.)
Allow the tart to cool at least an hour before serving. As alluring as it seems warm, the juices from the ruptured tomatoes need to settle and gel; otherwise you’ll just be serving soupy marinara. Serve by the slice, garnished the way you would pasta: grated cheese, fresh herbs and a drizzle of your best extra-virgin.
I'm gonna make this shit GF! Looks so pretty AE!— laurelro- Thanks LRP! A buckwheat pie crust would be real nice on here. (Buckwheat is GF right?) — AdamErace
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