Summer Tomato Tart
Meatless September. We eat vegetarian meals at our house quite a bit, but we’re really going for it this month. & what I’m hoping will be the result from an at-home kitchen perspective is lots of creative vegetarian meals. Using lots of whole, plant-based foods for some ultra nutritious meals. & nooo meat cheats. Like not even a little bit. That means no carnitas breaakfast burritos on my way to the bar on Saturday mornings (my latest Summer obsession) + no greasy cheeseburgers. So this also means vegetarian month better be delicious!
To kick-start vegetarian month, we’re eating hella tomatoes. It’s both a want and a need because out tomato plan is actually going insane. & if I remember correctly, I’m pretty sure we found ourselves in this same position this time last year. We have new, ripe tomatoes sprouting up daily, so we’re doing real tomato heavy meals. Like this Summer Tomato Tart. It’s almost like a pizza. & also just like a good pizza - the leftovers are real good & taste damn good cold, straight out of the fridge.
Pizza vibes
Yes it’s a tomato tart with a full on pie dough as the base, but it just kind of tastes like a really tomato-y pizza. As we ate up the first couple of forkfuls, “it just tastes like pizza” was our first comment. As the tomatoes bake, they get soft + juicy + the taste is like a super chunky, super fresh tomato sauce. The tomato flavor is remains the most prominent, so think of it as a margherita pizza that’s lined with fresh tomato slices instead of a sauce, so like heavy on the veggie component.
The not so pizza-y thing - Dijon mustard. That’s the base sauce that I brushed onto the partially cooked crust, & it’s like the acid bite that the dish needs. It brightens up the tart. It sounds so weird to just add mustard to something like this, but we frequently add mustard to sauces + rubs when whatever we’re cooking just needs a little extra something. Just remember - Dijon is the fanciest option in the world of mustards, & it’s much more complex than sandwich mustard.
We go back to serious pizza vibes with the cheese. Mozzarella is the base (that’s what lines the pan before piling in the tomatoes). You can use fancy stuff (like burrata) or the pretty generic + cost effective shredded mozz. The shredded route is where I went with it just because that was already in my fridge, & it was great. Then move to cheese no. 2 - a parmesan sprinkling on top. Just like a good ol’ two-cheese pizza, & I definitely didn’t mind pizza vibes.
Seriously - love this pie dough recipe
This pie dough has one ingredient that I usually never work with - egg. However it works, it’s a dough that’s firm, easy to work, + tasty. Easy to work with being thee thing to heavily emphasize. After rolling it out, the dough remained pretty stable, so it was super easy to transfer the dough to the pie pan. Not always my experience with pie making, so it was a lovely surprise.
The absolute best part - this dough is like puff pastry flakey. Just really light + not super heavy, but still buttery + really damn good. After the initial bake of just the crust (before adding in the tomatoes), I pulled it out of the oven & it did really look like you cooked puff pastry. Some big, flaky air bubbles that you might need to poke with a fork before adding in the tomatoes.
Season the hell out of the tomatoes
The key to the flavor - heavily season the tomatoes. Like literally season the hell out of your sliced tomatoes (which is also my rule of thumb when I’m making bruschetta or anything else that calls for seasoned tomatoes). Garlic + herbs + salt + pepper. Do not hold back! All that cooked with the tomatoes only adds to the pizza vibes (so many Italian flavors!), & just creates this super flavorful filling for the tart.
What to eat with it? Something green for sure! I went with a simple arugula salad with some roasted carrots on top, which is just a simple salad in the own repertoire. But any kind of simple, green salad dressed in a vinaigrette is an A+ choice. My other green thing - pesto. But only because I happened to have some pesto left over from a previous recipe, & lord knows I love a sauce.
A really simple, really fresh dinner that was a fun addition to our meatless meals,
For the crust
2 1/2 c. flour
Salt
12 tbsp. butter, cold + cut into small cubess
2 egg yolks
1/2 c. ice water
For the tart
3 c. baby tomatoes (cherry or grape tomatoes)
1/2 c. parsley, minced
3 cloves, garlic
Salt + pepper
6 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 c. shredded mozzarella
1/2 c. grated parmesan
1 tbsp fresh thyme
your favorite pesto (optional, and just for a little drizzle)
To make the crust, place the flour, salt + butter in the food processor, pulsing until the butter is the size of peas. Add in the egg yolks, pulsing just until the egg yolks are blended in. With the processor on, add in the ice water in a stream, keeping on until the dough comes together in one ball. Take your dough , form it into a small disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
While the dough chills, slice the tomatoes & toss with garlic + parsley, and also with a pinch salt + pepper. Cover & keep in the fridge until ready to use.
Lightly grease a pie pan + preheat the oven to 400.
When the dough is chilled, roll the dough out into a 13 inch disk. Transfer to the pie dish, trimming the edges. Bake the crust for 15 minutes. Remove the crust + add in the dijon, brushing the crust so it’s lightly coated with the mustard. Add in the mozz, sprinkling over the base of the crust. Add in the tomatoes, pouring them right into the crust. Finish by topping the pie with a sprinkling of parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes.
When the pie has finished baking, let it sit for 20 minutes (letting those tomato juices settle back in). Finish by sprinkling the fresh thyme right over the top of the pie. Slice up while it’s warm, & serve with some prepared pesto (only if you like a little extra sauce). Yumm!
