Heirloom Tomato Tart with Goat's Cheese
This Heirloom Tomato Tart is buttery, savory, and is a celebration of summer eating. Goat's and Sheep's cheese, naturally cooling summer foods. Heirloom Tomatoes, a gift of the season, bursting with lycopene. Fresh summer herbs, rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory polyphenols.
This beautiful summer tart is bursting with flavor; it’s zesty, it’s creamy, its flakey; a grown-up buttery pizza, if you will. Perfect for a Sunday lunch, with a herby green salad alongside.
Under the Mediterranean sun, on hot summer days, you'll find singlet-wearing grandpa’s eating Goat's Cheese in abundance, with ripe, just picked summer tomatoes and peppery garden herbs in Olive Oil, sopped up with just-baked bread. This recipe is inspired by those images.
I used a 10 inch Quiche pan for this recipe.
Organic Ingredients,makes 1 × 10 inch Tart
Base - Shortcrust pastry
1 1/4 Cups (160g) All-Purpose Flour, plus extra for dusting
1/2 Cup (113g) cold Salted Butter, cubed
3-4 Tbsps. ice-cold Water
Whipped Cheese
7 oz (200g) Meredith Dairy Marinated Sheep & Goat's Cheese, drained of its oil
1/2 Cup (120g) Greek Yogurt
1/2 Cup grated Parmesan
1 Egg
Oregano: 1 Tbsp fresh, chopped
Thyme: a few sprigs, leaves stripped (about 1 tsp)
Basil: 1 Tbsp chopped
Cracked Black Pepper
Toppings
1.5 lbs Heirloom Tomatoes
Buffalo Mozzarella, torn (a small handful)
Basil: a few torn over scattered over at the end
Extra Virgin Olive Oil, to finish
Method
Salt the tomatoes first. Slice about 1/4 inch thick, lay on a rack or paper towel, sprinkle with salt, and drain for 20-30 minutes. Pat dry. This is what keeps the tart crisp - don't skip it.
Make the Pastry
Put the Flour in a large bowl.
Add the cold, cubed Salted Butter. Keeping the butter cold is what makes the pastry flaky, so work quickly from here.
Rub the Butter into the Flour using your fingertips, lift and lightly squeeze the mixture as you go until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs with no big lumps of butter left.
Add the ice-cold Water one tablespoon at a time. Add just enough for the dough to start clumping together - you may not need all of it. It should hold when pressed, but not feel wet or sticky.
Bring it together gently into a ball with your hands. Don't knead it or work it - the less you handle it, the more tender the pastry.
Flatten into a disc (approximately 2 inches thick), wrap in cling film, and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes before rolling.
Rolling Out the Pastry
Flour your surface well and lightly flour your rolling pin.
Unwrap the chilled dough and set it on the floured surface.
Roll from the center outward. After every few rolls, turn the dough a quarter-turn and re-flour underneath if it starts to stick. Keep going until you have an even round that will cover the whole base of the pan with a little extra to climb up the sides - aim for about 2 inches wider than your tin all around.
Carefully Lift it into the tin.
Trim the excess. Run a knife around the rim to cut off the overhang. Keep every scrap you trim off
Patch any cracks or thin spots with those trimmed bits. Press a little piece of dough over any hole, tear, or gap and smooth it in with your fingers. The base needs to be sealed so the filling doesn't leak through.
Prick (dock) the base with a fork. Press the pines straight down into the bottom of the pastry ¾ inch down every inch or so, all across the base - not the sides. These little holes let steam escape as it bakes, so the base stays flat instead of puffing up into bubbles.
Blind bake. Line with parchment with a cup of dried beans on top to add weight, and bake for 15 minutes. Lower the oven to 375°F, remove beans and parchment and bake another 5 minutes, until pale gold.
Whip the cheese. In a bowl, whisk the drained Meredith Dairy cheese, Greek Yogurt, Parmesan, Egg, Oregano, Thyme, Basil and Black Pepper together by hand until smooth and creamy.
Assemble. Spread the whipped cheese over the base. Tear the Buffalo Mozzarella over the top. Shingle the drained tomatoes in a single, slightly overlapping layer. Drizzle with olive oil, scatter a little more Basil .
Bake at 375°F for about 45 minutes, until the pastry is deep golden, the cheese is set, and the tomatoes have softened and caramelized at the edges.
Rest 10 minutes.
Notes
Salt and drain the tomatoes and pat dry after - the single most important step. Wet tomatoes make a soggy tart.
Single layer of tomatoes only, overlapping like roof tiles. Don't pile them, or they'll steam instead of caramelize.
The cheese: Meredith Dairy comes marinated in oil with herbs and garlic, so it brings its own seasoning - drain it well before whipping. The Parmesan adds savory depth and helps the base set; the torn Buffalo Mozzarella melts into soft, milky pockets on top.
Wonderful warm from the oven with a peppery green salad, or at room temperature the next day.
Summer
"To forget how to dig the earth and tend the soil is to forget ourselves."
Gandhi
Tomatoes, sliced ¼ inch thick and draining
Shortcrust pastry rolled out
Ready for baking with ¾ of the way down holes made with a fork
Light but decadent.
Late Sunday breakfast.