Tomato Tart

I find myself in the same situation every year. While everyone else seems to be looking forward to crisp fall air, wearing sweaters, and making big pots of soup, I'm trying to delay the passing of summer any way I can.  

It's October and I've yet to buy a single winter squash, apple, or pear. The farmers' market has been full of  fall fruits and vegetables for weeks now but as long as there are still tomatoes, or peaches, or raspberries in the market, I can't bring myself to buy anything like winter squash. Winter is long and we'll be eating stuff like that for months.

Where I live the first frost doesn't usually occur until mid-November and the leaves don't begin to color until mid-October or later. It's an area of long, lingering summers. Tomatoes, peaches, raspberries, and other summer produce are abundant in September and the quality is still good; eggplants and peppers are at peak. I never buy chrysanthemums in the fall because September is when my impatiens plants finally begin to look luxuriant. 

But by the beginning of October even I have to admit that summer is really over and fall is here. The evenings have a noticeable chill, the days are noticeably shorter, and signs saying things like "last week for peaches" have begun to appear in the market. My tomatoes have stopped producing and this past weekend my sister-in-law dropped off a bag of beautiful tomatoes grown in her Eastern Shore garden and told me that it was her last batch.

So this is a good-bye to summer tomatoes. It's the sort of thing I would never do with tomatoes in July or August -- it feels too heavy and besides at that time of year I'm always trying to keep from turning the stove on. But in early October, it fits.

The tart is adapted from a recipe I found in the Hors D'oeuvres volume of the Time-Life The Good Cook series which was edited by  Richard Olney and published in the late 70s and early 80s.  The tart dough is from a Martha Stewart recipe.  

I've mentioned before that I'm pastry-challenged, and I continue to speculate that there's a pastry gene which I was born without, however this was one of my most successful pastry forays to date. The tart shell was actually flaky and crisp, and the combination of the tomatoes and Gruyere cheese was delicious. Maybe I'm overcoming my pastry disability?

Tomato Tart

For the tart shell:

1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
1/4 cup salt
9 tablespoons butter, in 1/2 inch pieces
1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk
3 tablespoons ice water

1. Combine flour and salt in food processor. Process for a few seconds to combine and distribute.

2. Add butter to food processor and pulse until butter is combined with flour -- about 20 pulses

3. Whisk egg, and then whisk in ice water. With the food processor running, add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and process only until it comes together. Gather into a disk, wrap with plastic, and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

4. Roll out the dough, and fit it into an 11" tart pan. Prick the dough all over with a fork, wrap with plastic wrap, place the tart pan on a baking sheet or a plastic cutting board and place in the freezer for 30 minutes. Turn the oven to 400 degrees to preheat.

5. Cover the tart with parchment paper, fill with pie weights or dried beans, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the pie weights and bake for another 10 minutes. Cool on a rack. Leave the oven on.

For the filling:

3 to 4 tomatoes, preferably in a range of colors
3/4 cup of grated Gruyere cheese, divided
1/3 cup of heavy cream
Fresh nutmeg
1 tablespoon of a combination of chopped fresh parsley, chives, thyme, rosemary

1. Slice the tomatoes about 1/4" thick. Salt them and set them aside to drain.

2. Mix 1/2 cup of grated cheese with 1/3 cup of cream and a dusting of nutmeg. Spread on the bottom of the tart shell. Layer the tomatoes, sprinkling herbs over each layer and salting each layer of tomato lightly. Sprinkle the last layer with cheese.

3. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes until the top is bubbling and the cheese is golden brown. Let the tart sit at least 15 minutes after coming out of the oven to firm up.

 

Comments

[Patricia Scarpin]

That is a great looking tart! I love tomatoes and it's always interesting to find new, delicious ways of using them (spring is on my side of the globe now). :)

[adele]

What a pretty tart!

My personal theory about pastry is that cookbook writers and chefs have gone so overboard in their efforts to educate people about pastry, they've produced home cooks with Pastry Anxiety.

I break several of the cardinal rules of pastry. I have yet to have any major failures.

[Giff]

beautiful photo, I love tarts and gratins like this. The old Good Cook series is a wonderful resource isn't it!

[Elizabeth]

Julie! Congrats on overcoming those pastry difficulties! The color of those tomatoes is really quite gorgeous in your tart! and boo for me punking out for the farmers market (instead got to have a lovely (not!) discussion with the new boyfriend...)

[Anh]

This is one pretty tart! And I am sure it tastes good, too.

[claudia (cook eat FRET)]

wow, pastry
no can do...
wish i could but i just can't. i can't, i can't

but that is absolutely beautiful - what a photograph. and it looks delicious. perfect flavor combo.

[Andrea]

I know what you mean about not waning summer to end. I love fall, but I hate that it's a harbinger of winter. If I could just switch between summer and fall every few months, that would be perfect. We're also on about the last haul of tomatoes, and a tart is such a beautiful way to use them!

[Lisa (Homesick Texan)]

This is the perfect recipe for transitioning between the two seasons.

[Peter]

I hear ya..if I can enjoy good tomatoes, I'll eat them.

This tart looks fabulous...may I have a wedge?

[Mandy]

Your tomato tart looks great! It's true that when the weather turns cooler, I am more inclined to turn the oven on. I need to make this tart if I can still find tomatoes at the farmer market.

[Haley]

I think your pastry looks fantastic! I agree that it is a bit sad that summer has truly ended, but part of me is ready to start baking with all of those wonderful warm spices!

We would love to feature this tomato tart on our blog! We will be sure to give credit to the sources you pulled the recipe from. If interested email haleyglasco@gmail.com

[pigtown*design]

Looks delish!

[heather]

i always mourn the passing of summer, too! i do love autumn, but i always miss berries. this tart looks delicious. i love tomatoes.

[Lore]

I'll miss that great summer produce but not the unbearable temperatures.
Judging by the looks of this tart it's hard to believe you were ever pastry-chalgenged ;)
A mouthwatering recipe for that last batch of tomatoes!

[Hilary]

I totally agree with you. I refuse to buy squash until Halloween or after!

[Anne]

Great post, and it has me craving tomato pie. I too, am lacking the pastry gene, and find Martha Stewart's dough recipes to work out the best.

[a]

PS: I just finished Season 5 of "The Wire" and I'm in mouring!

[SarahO]

This looks too delicious.

BTW, I just found your blog. When I saw the photo on your header, I thought Wow, that looks like Baltimore. We lived in Columbia, MD for 8 years... I lived for crabcakes.

[Susan from Food Blogga]

I can understand your reluctance to let summer go. Though I must say I'm a fall lover myself, not that we have any here in San Diego. I would gladly love a slice of that tomato tart, Julie. The colors are exquisite.

[Julie]

Patricia, I’m a little envious. I’d like to be anticipating summer instead of winter.

Adele, that only confirms my theory about the pastry gene. I try to follow all the rules and I still end up with cardboard like crusts on my hands.

Giff, I’m not that often tempted to cook something out of The Good Cook series but it is a fascinating resource.

Elizabeth, thanks! And I know our farmers’ market timing is a little early for you. :-)

Anh, thank you. The tomatoes in their various colors do make for a pretty tart.

Claudia, I hear you about the no can do pastry. But I’m stubbornly doing it anyway.

Andrea, I love fall, and I even love winter in short spurts but summer is just the high point of the year for me.

Lisa, it’s definitely an early fall recipe rather than a summer recipe for me.

Peter, I’d be thrilled to send you a wedge!

Mandy, I can’t bear to turn the oven on during the summer. That is one of the benefits of cooler weather though.

Haley, thanks!

Pigtown, it was!

Heather, yes! I miss the berries too. And the tomatoes. And the warm weather.

Lore, I know. Summer can be a little overwhelming. We’re lucky. This year we had a pretty moderate summer as Baltimore summers go.

Hilary, you’re a woman after my own heart.

Anne, I thought the Martha Stewart recipe worked really well here. Maybe that’s why I had success in the pastry department. And Season 5 of The Wire? I’m still in mourning for The Wire too.

SarahO, glad you found my blog. And Baltimore definitely does crabcakes right.

Susan, I love fall too but I’m still always sad when summer slips away.

[Nicole]

This is absolutely gorgeous! I have been wanting to do a nice tomato tart soon. Maybe this weekend!

[White On Rice Couple]

I feel the same way that you do. But in Southern California, we really don't have a true Fall season, so eating like it's Summer during Halloween is still appropriate!
One thing that I can eat all year is lovely soup like yours. I live on soup!

[Ivonne]

Oh my gosh, that's absolutely gorgeous!

[pj]

hai this is pj ,am working as a pastrychef with intercontinental hotel.its good,,,u tried the impossible, i always like unique styles am addicted to unique.can you tell more about u..plz do.
cheers
pj
www.pravin-cf.blogspot.com