June 21, 2010

Organic Tomato Tart

Tomatoes are finally in season again and paired with a shallot, garlic, some good olive oil, a little sea salt, basil and whatever cheese you have laying around that needs to be used and some puff pastry purchased from Whole Foods.....well you have a completely delicious dinner at hand within 30 minutes.

There are a couple of tricks to this amazing tart however. If you follow them, it will yield a tart with a crisp and buttery "crust" and perfectly chewy, intensely flavored tomatoes. The recipe, and the tips follow. Please, even though it is warm, please don't run out to some fast food joint right now! Take my word for it....this is an easy recipe. It is worth the 30 minutes.

Organic Tomato Tart with Cheese

1 purchased sheet of puff pastry, defrosted and pricked top to bottom
2 pints of organic cherry tomatoes, washed and halved
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, smashed and finely chopped
3 TBSP good olive oil
Sea salt, to taste
Black Pepper, freshly ground
Fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
Parmegiano Reggiano, grated coarsely
Basil, torn or julienned

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Put all the tomato halves, shallot, garlic and olive oil together on a cookie sheet. Toss to coat, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Bake until slightly shriveled and fragrant. Notice if most of the liquid is gone from the tomatoes. This is the perfect time to remove from the oven and cool. About 15 minutes time total.

Top the defrosted and pricked puff pastry sheet with the thinly sliced mozzarella, placed along the tart being careful not to put too much, as too much filling with make the tart soggy. Layer the seasoned, oven roasted tomatoes atop the cheese, spreading around evenly. Top with grated reggiano.

Bake at 45o degress until edges are puffed and really brown. About 10-15 minutes, depending upon your oven. If the tart puffs too much, stick the tip of a knife into the puffed part to release the steam.

Remove from the oven. Cut into 8 slices and top with the julienne of basil and a sprinkling or coarse sea salt.

Serve hot or cold.....great picnic food!




2 comments:

ChefGirl said...

Yes! I love Himalayan Pink Salt. I just finished my first jar and will purchase again. Thank you for your comment. I hope that you enjoy the tart.

Lisa & Alfie said...

I wanna see a christmas post! I wanna see a christmas recipe! I wanna, I wanna!
xoxo
Lisa & Alfie