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!

Grilled Pizza

Tonight after pruning the tomatoes plants that are quickly out growing the cages that I have used for the last three years, I decided to make some homemade pizza dough and grill some pizza.  This is my second attempt this summer at grilling pizza.  Last time, the crust was what was lacking.  Too thick and too many toppings.  This time I decided to keep it simple.

The pizza dough is better. Amazing.  This time, the crust is good. I wanted to find a way to stretch it thinner to get the crisp and chewy, Cheeseboard type crust that my little family has grown to love. After brushing it with garlic oil and laying it on a 500 degree preheated grill, it is a skill to keep it moving and get the nice char marks and crispy edges, without letting it rest too long and burning. 

So on go the oven roasted tomatoes, creamy goat cheese , smoked pork loin, and grilled gypsy peppers. For my daughter Lucia, a fire roasted tomato reduction and fresh mozzarella.  She is a fearless and adventurous eater....but really wants to be a kid eating cheese pizza tonight.  I oblige.  I make two 8 inch pies with the pork loin, one cheese pizza and one Frog Hollow Peach pizza drizzled with honey and dotted with dolce pecorino.  Delicious!

Since the weather was unusually balmy for Berkeley tonight, cut up some fresh Frog Hollow peaches, tiny Lucero strawberries and macerated them in a nice Spanish white wine with a squeeze of lime in two glasses to accompany the pizza for my Husband Troy and I.

Topping off the meal, slices from a miniscule, sweet watermelon.

WOW! I DO LIKE BRUSSELS SPROUTS

Okay, so my Husband likes these little cabbage balls. I have always felt bad, because I don't and I never really had made an effort to find a truly great preparation because they were not one of my favorites.

So while at Whole Foods on Friday, I saw a cute little bag of the little cabbage heads and decided to really make an effort. This is what ensued.

Sausage Sage Brussels Sprouts

1/2 lb of country style ground sausage
1 small yellow onion, chopped finely
6 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
Salt and Pepper to taste
julienne Sage leaves, fresh
3 TBSP cooking sherry
2 TBSP good olive oil
2 lbs brussels sprouts
1/2 cup finely shredded Pecornio Toscano cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large sautee pan, brown the sausage...when it is brown on the outside and pink on the inside still, add onions. Turn down the heat, add salt and pepper to taste, and let mixture carmelize...occasionally using a pancake turner to cut up the sausage into ground pieces.

Add garlic, let warm thru to release the aroma. Add the cooking sherry, sage, then the olive oil. Remove from heat.

Cut each sprout in half. Toss with sausage mixture. Cook in the oven for 20 mins. After the time has elapsed, remove the brussels sprouts from the oven, and top withe the pecornio cheese. Return the mixture to the oven for 5 mins. more.

Serves 4 people as a side dish.


WOW! My Husband Troy, loved this so much we ate the whole thing for dinner. I must admit, it was pretty good and I definately expanded my Winter vegetable repetoire!