Tomato Goat Cheese Tart

Posted by Rachel Crawford on August 6, 2009 | 2 Comments

tomatotart

What’s more beautiful this time of year than a basket of heirloom cherry tomatoes? I couldn’t resist the multi-colored tiny tomatoes at the farmer’s market, all purple and red and yellow, and at $4 for a basket, they were less expensive than some of the heirloom monsters you see dominating the stands.

I based my recipe off of this one I found on epicurious, for a tomato and goat cheese tart with cornmeal crust. The cornmeal in the crust gives it a nice crunch, and the flavor pairs well with the goat cheese. I had a single onion that had been hanging out awhile, and before it went bad, I decided to caramelize it and throw it into the mix, along with part of a zucchini I’d also gotten from the market. The result was very decadent — this recipe has a lot of butter — but perfect alongside a light salad in place of a more banal quiche. This tart would be perfect to serve to company. Pretty and delicious!

Tomato Goat Cheese Tart (adapted from epicurious)

For crust:

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter
1 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. yellow cornmeal
1 t. salt
3 T. ice water
pie weights or raw rice for weighting crust

For custard:

3 T. chopped fresh sage
7 oz. mild soft goat cheese, softened
1/2 stick (4 T.) unsalted butter, well softened
1/2 c. sour cream
2 large eggs

1 pint vine-ripened cherry tomatoes, halved
1 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 small zucchini, thinly sliced

Make crust:
Cut butter into pieces.

In a food processor pulse together flour, cornmeal, and salt. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water and pulse until incorporated and mixture just forms a dough. Press dough evenly into bottom and up sides of a 10 1/2- by 7- by 1-inch rectangular tart pan (or a 10″ by 1″ deep round tart pan) with a removable fluted rim and trim dough flush with rim. Chill crust about 20 minutes, or until firm.

While crust is chilling, preheat oven to 375°F.

Line crust with foil and fill with pie weights or raw rice. Bake crust in lower third of oven until edge is set, 10 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights or rice and bake crust 5 – 10 minutes more, or until just dry. Leave oven on and cool crust in pan on a rack (crust may crack slightly). Crust may be made 1 day ahead and kept, loosely covered with plastic wrap, at room temperature.

Caramelize onions:
Place onion in a dry pan over medium-high heat and cover. Let the onions sweat in the pan. They will begin to brown. Stir every few minutes and remove lid when the onions have released their liquid and have become dry. Add a tablespoon or so of olive oil, stir, and continue to cook until well caramelized. Lightly salt and let cool.

Make custard:
Chop sage. In a bowl whisk together sage and remaining custard ingredients and season with salt and pepper.

Scatter the cooled onions evenly over the bottom of the crust. Pour custard into crust, spreading evenly. Halve tomatoes and arrange, cut sides up, in one layer on custard along with zucchini rounds, pressing lightly into custard. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper and bake tart in lower third of oven until custard is just set, about 30 – 35 minutes. Cool tart to warm before serving so it can set up. Serve warm or at room temperature.