The tomato season is going strong here in Bay Area; Heirloom tomatoes have become a frequenter to my kitchen. I roast them and top it on a ricotta cheese toast; cut them into thick wedges and have it with some chaat masala and black salt; sandwich a thick slice of mozzarella between two tomato slices and drizzle from balsamic glaze. You can go wrong with these tomatoes.
I have a tomato tooth which I didn’t know about!
This tart is very promising! The crust is simply spectacular, adding grated parmesan and paprika to a shortcrust for an extra savory twist. Not to mention it’s wo simple, you don’t even have to roll it out. Draining tomatoes makes sure there is no moisture in the tart and drizzling them with garlic infused olive oil keep them from drying while they bake.
tl:dr, this tart hits yours taste buds at right places!
Happy Baking!
Heirloom Tomato Tart
Equipment
- Oven
- Food Processor
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter cut into cubes, chilled
- 3/4 cup parmesan cheese grated
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 4-5 tbsp ice water
Filling
- 3-4 heirloom tomatoes cored and sliced ~1/4 inch thick
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tsp italian seasoning
- 1 ounce parmesan cheese grated
- 4 ounce ricotta cheese I used full fat
- 1 ounce mozzarella cheese shredded
- 2 tbsp chopped basil leaves for garnish
- salt and pepper as per taste
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat the oven to 400 F, have a 9 inch tart pan ready on the side.
- Add flour, salt, cheese and paprika in the food processor and pulse it few times, until combined.
- Sprinkle butter cubes over the mix and pulse few more times until the mixture resembles wet sand with pea size butter pieces.
- Drizzle few tablespoons of water at a time and pulse. Keep adding water until the dough just holds.
- Dump the dough on the tart pan and press evenly, starting from the center moving upwards. Place the prepared pan in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Line the tart pan with aluminum foil, spread pie weights evenly and blind bake the crust for 15 minutes.
- Carefully remove the foil and weights and return the crust to the oven for another 10 minutes, until it is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely.
Filling
- Change the temperature of the oven to 425 F.
- Spread the tomatoes over multiple layers of paper towels, sprinkle 1/2 tsp of salt and let them drain for 30 minutes.
- Combine olive oil and garlic in a small bowl. In a separate bowl combine all cheese, italian seasoning, salt and pepper as per taste.
- Spread the cheese mix evenly over blind baked tart shell.
- Blot tomatoes dry with paper towels and shingle attractively on top of the cheese mix in a concentric circle.
- Drizzle the garlic-oil mix and bake for 25 minutes, the tomatoes will be slightly wilted and the filling will be bubbling. Rotate the pan half way through baking.
- Let the tart cool completely (~2hrs) before removing it from the tart pan.
- Garnish with chopped basil leaves before serving.
