We haven't had a real rain in about four weeks. But the garden, in spite of looking a bit brown, is producing. We've already harvested about 50 pounds of tomatoes, onions, and all the garlic. Tomatoes on toast for breakfast. Tomato sandwiches for lunch. Gazpacho for dinner. Tonight we feasted on tomato, onion, and cheese tart.Unlike most tomato tarts, this one is not loaded with pounds of gooey cheese or mayo (both of which make my stomach churn). This is nice and clean. Once the zucchini and eggplant come in massive numbers we'll grill it and layer it into the pie, too.
Tomato, Onion, and Cheese Tart
1 (9 in) deep-dish pie crust
Dijon or grainy mustard
3 TBS olive oil
1-2 large onions, sliced thinly
salt & pepper
6 oz crumbled goat cheese, brie, feta or other favorite cheese
2-3 tomatoes, sliced thinly
fresh basil leaves
Place crust in tart pan with removable bottom or a regular pie dish and prick bottom and sides with fork. Line shell with foil and pie weights or dried beans. Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake 10 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown. Cool on rack. Brush mustard on cooled crust. Heat oil is heavy skillet and cook onions until golden brown, about 15-20 min, stirring frequently. Add salt and pepper. Spread onions over bottom of tart shell and top with most of the cheese. Arrange tomatoes, slightly overlapping, in concentric circles over cheese. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake at 350 until cheese melts, 5-10 minutes. Put foil over edge of crust to prevent over browning. Top with torn, fresh basil leaves.
Ooh! I can't wait to make this. I think you should try baking some basil leaves inside as well. Our tomatoes are still green (well, one plant is producing one small one a day and we are eating it for breakfast: tomato & hummos on pumpernickel toast this am). Unfortunately this year, there are just not as many tomatoes as in the past, which makes me sad. As far as I'm concerned, tomatoes are why we have a garden. But these are things that you can't control. Luckily, the coop will sell local tomatoes at a good price, so we can make up for our dearth there.
ReplyDeleteYou can mix and match vegetables, cheeses, herbs in this recipe to suit whatever ya got growin'. I think the secret is the pie crust (butter & Crisco) and always including a moist vegetable/fruit such as tomatoes.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'll get a discussion going here (among other people than ourselves), but you use Crisco? I'm totally surprised. I know people swear by it for a flaky crust, but it's not only about as bad a food stuff as you can find for your health, but it's the poster child for the industrial food complex. What about an all butter crust?
ReplyDeleteFLAKY PIE DOUGH, CHILLED
ReplyDelete5 1/4 cups pastry flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt
6 ounces cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 3/4 cups solid vegetable shortening, chilled
1 cup ice water
Makes enough dough for four 10-inch tarts
Mix flour and salt together in a large bowl. Add butter and cut it into the flour until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Break up the shortening and cut it in until mixture has small clumps and curds. Add ice water, stirring with a spoon to incorporate. Turn dough out onto a work surface and fold it over on itself a few times. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Dough may be frozen. Defrost in refrigerator.