Tomato Tart
Tomato Tart
If, for some unfathomable reason, you haven’t yet made the Savory Pie Crust, let this tomato tart be the motivation to get into the kitchen and do so. This is a wonderful do-ahead dish, and, as it takes advantage of vine-ripened summer tomatoes, also happens to make for an easy warm-weather meal with a simple salad of mixed greens.
Servings
4
Ingredients
- savory pie crust, egg was omitted (recipe below)
- 1 pound tomatoes (approx. 2 medium), cored, cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices, seeds removed
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup pecorino romano cheese
- 2 ounce goat cheese, cut into 1/2-inch pieces as best as you're able
- 2 slices bacon, cooked to desired doneness and coarsely crumbled
- 8 fresh basil leaves, roughly torn
Directions
- Set one oven rack in the customary middle position, and another rack one notch below the middle. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom on a 10-by-15-inch rimmed baking sheet to prevent that removable bottom from having its way with you. If the tart pan is not nonstick, grease it lightly, using the wrapper from the stick of butter that you used for the dough.
- In order to make the transfer of dough to tart pan go smoothly, when I roll out dough for pie crust, I roll it out on a piece of reusable silicone parchment paper that is lightly — very lightly — dusted with flour. This same process will work with plastic wrap or disposable parchment paper, and saves you from having to fold the dough over your rolling pin — or worse, having to peel the dough off of the counter—to transfer it to the pan. So, roll half of the dough out into a 12-inch circle that is ¼ inch thick. To transfer it to the pan (which is now sitting on a rimmed baking sheet and should be very near to you), simply pick up the parchment and slowly flip it over so the crust is facing down and centered over the pan. Lower the dough into the pan now, and gently peel back the parchment. Tuck the dough into the tart pan, folding a small amount of dough back over itself into the pan to form a crust edge. It is also important to know that if your dough round isn’t perfect, this is the time to go ahead and patch any areas that require patching, simply using a dab of water to adhere the patch to the rest of the dough. This is particularly handy if your crust edges come up a tad short during the final fold-over. Remember, no need to get frustrated, there’s always a work-around, and it’s going to be delicious, patch or no patch.
- Refrigerate your crust for 30 minutes to prevent it shrinking up on you during baking.
- In order to achieve a crispy bottom crust, the likes of which will make you wonder why you even bother with frozen crust varieties, you must first bake the crust without its fillings, a process known as blind baking. It’s quite easy, takes but a half an hour, and is worth the doing, for you will be amazed — amazed, I say — at the finished product. Remove the crust from the refrigerator, pierce the bottom of the crust all over with a fork, then cover it completely (edges, too) with aluminum foil, shiny side down, and pour in 1 cup of dried beans, distributing them evenly. No need for fancy pie weights — inexpensive dried beans will do the trick to keep our crust free from buckling while we blind bake it. Bake for 20 minutes.
- Keep the heat at 400 degrees, remove the tart shell from the oven, carefully — we don’t want any burns, now — remove the foil and beans from the shell, and set them aside to cool, as those beans are now your fancy pie weights. Return the shell to the oven until it’s golden brown, 5-10 minutes.
- While the crust is blind baking away, toss the sliced tomatoes with the olive oil and season them with salt and pepper. Place them in a small baking dish or roasting pan and roast them on that rack we placed one notch down from the middle rack (where the crust is baking) for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
- Keep the heat at 400 degrees. Remove the pie shell from the oven. Sprinkle the pecorino romano over the crust as evenly as you are able. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, remove the roasted tomatoes from their pan, leaving the accumulated juices behind, and arrange them in a single layer over the crust, tucking them into place as necessary. Place the goat cheese chunks on the tomato slices, creating a lovely goat cheese and tomato kaleidoscope pattern as you do. Top that kaleidoscope with bacon crumbles, and return the whole lot to the oven. Bake until the goat cheese is lightly browned, 30-35 minutes. Now sprinkle torn basil leaves over the top of the tart. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing the tart from its pan—using oven mitts to do so, as that pan is still hot a mere 5 minutes out of a 400 degree oven—and transfer to a cutting surface. Slice into 8 more-or-less-equal wedges, and, if the summer heat has really gotten to you, tell everyone to help themselves, they can find utensils in the drawer. They won’t mind, so crispy is the crust, so sweet are the tomatoes.