With early September tomatoes it’s worth making a luscious
tart. Who needs pizza when you can make this? The fresh tastes and combination
of flavors can bring tears to your eyes. I experimented making this to bring to
a music and poetry salon in the mountains surrounding Woodstock, NY. I used a
rectilinear pan, like the kind used for making a French apple tart, but finding
a platter long and narrow can be a problem. Make it in a round pan placing the
tomato slices all around and layer them toward the center, or vice verse.
Either way it will be a hit. You may want to make two. It’s the ultimate
seasonal dish. Can’t freeze it. Can’t store it. Nope. Just enjoy.
TOMATO TART
The dough:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon organic cane sugar + 2 teaspoons
4 ounces (1 stick) salted butter + 2 tablespoons
½ cup ice water
Place the flour and sugar in a food processor and pulse to
blend. Cut up 4 ounces or 1 stick of butter and add to the flour. Pulse to
blend. Add enough water to make everything just barely stick together into a
ball. Take out on to a flour sprinkled surface and knead a bit to bring
together. Then make into a flattened ball. Cover with plastic wrap and
refrigerate an hour or overnight.
Take out the pie dough and let it rest about 15-20 minutes
or just enough so that you can roll it out. The warmth of your hand can move
this process along. If you are using a rectangular tart pan, roll out the dough
to fit. For a round pan, do the same. There should be an overhang in either
case. Take the rolling pin and roll it over the edge to cut the dough. Put the pan with the dough into the freezer (or refrigerator) for at least 20 minutes to get good an cold. Then fill.
Set the Oven to 375°F. and allow to come to temperature.
2-3 tablespoons Mayonnaise
1 full tablespoon, Basil chopped
Extra-virgin Olive oil
6-8 Tomatoes, medium size, ¼ inch slice, core removed
1/2 teaspoon Thyme leaves
Ground black pepper
2 teaspoons lemon zest, finely chopped (optional)
Honey
Coarse salt, Malden
Parmigiano-Reggiono or Grana Padano cheese
If you purchase a bunch of basil and want to preserve it
without making pesto first, chop it finely, place it in a glass jar and cover it
with olive oil. Use a full tablespoon of it to mix with the mayonnaise. Smear a
thin but adequate layer on the pastry dough in the tart pan.
Place the sliced tomatoes on top of the basil mayonnaise in
neat rows. For the rectilinear pan place about three overlapping slices across
the short side and keep layering until the pan is full. See photo. Using your
fingers, rub the thyme and toss over the tomatoes. Do the same with freshly
ground black pepper and chopped lemon zest. (You could use a good quality lemon
pepper here.) No salt yet.
Place on a sheet pan and bake in the center of the oven
until golden, about 20-35 minutes. The crust will brown a bit and the tomatoes
will glisten.
Remove to a rack. Sprinkle the coarse salt. Take a fork and
plunk it into some honey then quickly drizzle just a little over the tart…like
a wand. Using a peeler, scrape the cheese to fall helter-skelter over the tart.
Finally, drizzle a bit – not too much - of condiment quality extra-virgin olive
oil over the top. Let cook. Remove from the mold. Watch this disappear. (Cut a
slice for yourself to be sure.)
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