It's a Good Year for the Tomatoes {Cold Basil-Scented Tomato Tart}

As long as I can remember, my family always had a vegetable garden. While my father, Honey, might experiment a bit with different vegetables and varieties like okra, squash and peppers, the main focus was always tomatoes. When El Syd and I married, one of the first things I did in Massachusetts was to insist on a raised tomato garden. That summer we planted 24 tomato plants, and due to the super soil we had delivered and carted into the raised bed and the fabulous NE summer weather, a bumper crop would be an understatement. Some of those tomatoes were enormous and we ended up giving away loads and even carting some home when we visited Texas.

When we moved back to Texas, again, I insisted on another raised bed vegetable garden. In the 10 years or so that we've lived here, our success has been variable - some years have been rather horrid either due to the drought, heat or general neglect from the gardeners; other years have been rather good and this happens to be one of those years. We've been enjoying the output of our entirely tomato garden in a variety of ways, but mostly Caprese salad (sliced tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese & basil topped with a little balsamic and olive oil.) In an effort to switch it up, I did a little searching and found a great recipe for a cold tomato tart in (of all places) the William-Sonoma catalog that landed in my mailbox this week.

This recipe calls for making your own tart crust, and that's what I did, but I believe that a purchased "bake it yourself" crust or puff pastry would fill in just as well. (The crust that was included in the recipe is quite divine - flaky buttery light and delicious.)

Cold Basil-scented Tomato and Cheese Tart

adapted from William-Sonoma

Crust (or store-bought pie dough or puff pastry)

• 2 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small (1/2 in) pieces.
• 1/4 C ice water (more if needed)

Filling

• 1- 16 oz container ricotta cheese
• 8 oz freshly grated parmesan
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1 1/2 lbs garden fresh tomatoes, sliced to 1/4 in thickness
• a bit of salt and small basil leaves to garnish

1. In a large bowl, combine flour and butter. Using pastry blender, blend butter and flour until the mixture is coarse meal. Add 1/4 C of ice cold water and bring the dough together using a spatula. The dough should hold together but not be sticky. If it is too crumbly and doesn't seem to want to hold, add more water 1 tsp at a time, mixing well after each addition. Turn dough onto a work surface and pat into a 5 inch disk. Wrap with plastic and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour (or up to 24 hrs).  
2. Place a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 400F.
3. Roll out dough (or purchased pie crust or puff pastry) to 1/8 in thick to fit a 10 1/4 in pie pan or tart pan (Chilled dough will be a bit tough to roll at the start; be patient.) Press dough into the pan and trim off excess but leave 1/2 overhang. Fold overhang into the sides and press to make sure sides are thicker than the bottom. Return dough to fridge for at least 10 minutes to firm up butter.
4. Put tart pan on a baking sheet. Place parchment on top of dough and fill pan with pie weights. (I don't own any of those so I used rice - it won't be hurt by baking in the oven like beans would be so it can be used to make a toasty rice pilaf after serving its purpose.)
5. If using purchased dough, follow package directions for blind baking. For this dough, bake for 12 minutes, then remove weights and parchment and bake for another 10 minutes or so (Crust should be light golden brown and baked through.) Allow tart crust to cool completely in the pan.
6. In a bowl, mix the cheeses and the basil well. Spread cheese mixture, evenly into the cooled tart shell. Top with tomato slices and sprinkle with a bit of salt and the basil leaves (and cracked black pepper if you like). Cut into wedges and serve immediately.

Because this tart isn't baked after filling, it made for a lovely, cool, refreshing light supper. The crust making is a bit time consuming, but well worth the effort. Again, if you don't have the time, use a purchased short cut and you should have delightful results as well.

Happy Cooking!

sld

The Return of the Artichokes {Marinated Artichoke & Feta Tart}

When last we spoke of my mass artichoke purchase, we had steamed them as is de rigueur. We had grilled them a la Molly's Dad (lightly steam, cut in half, rub with some olive oil and grill until lightly charred with grill marks; serve with mayo/aioli dipping sauce of your choice). We had Tuscan Stuffed them. After a couple turns of each of these ways, I still had about 10 'chokes left.  One of our friends on facebook suggested pickling them and provided a great recipe from Marissa McClellan, a food writer and canning teacher whose book Food In Jars was published in 2012. What better way to preserve those last few artichokes than to pickle and marinate them to be used after a short break in the artichoke extravaganza?

Marinated Artichoke Hearts (adapted from Food In Jars)

• 8-10 trimmed artichoke hearts; halved or quartered (make sure to remove all outer, tough, leathery leaves, farther than you might think, to get to the tender, pale sweet leaves) 
• 1/2 C  vinegar (of your choice - I used some white balsamic, and some white wine; next time, I would do 3/4 C vinegar and 1/4 C water to increase the acidity of the pickling solution as it wasn't quite tart enough for me)
• 1/2 C water
• 2-3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (enough to top off your jars)
• 1 Tsp fine grain salt
• 1 fresh bay leaf
• 1 garlic clove (sliced or minced - the more surface area of the garlic, the more garlicky the seasoning will be, so you can adjust to your liking based on how much or how little you cut/slice/mince the garlic)
• 1/4 Tsp black peppercorns
• 1/4 Tsp red chili flake

1. In a small saucepan, combine vinegar, water and salt and bring to a boil. In the bottom of your mason jar, place the flavorings: garlic, peppercorns, chili flakes, and bay leaf. Then, pack the jars with the artichoke pieces. Be sure to leave some headroom so that there is enough room for the artichokes to be completely covered by the pickling solution and olive oil.  Pour hot pickling liquid over the artichoke hearts and tap gently to dislodge any air bubbles.
2. Top off the jar with olive oil until the artichoke hearts are covered. Place a lid on the jar and shake to help distribute oil. Leave jar(s) out on counter until they are completely cool. Once cool, refrigerate.
3. Let artichokes marinate for at least 24 hours before eating. Since these artichokes haven't been processed for shelving, they will keep for at least one week in the refrigerator.

Note: Next time I make these, I will lightly steam the artichoke hearts before packing into the jars as they were a bit too "green and raw" for my taste with just the cooking from the hot pickling solution.

These are quite tasty as is and would be a great addition to a salad or an antipasto tray. Or, as I did last night...

Marinated Artichoke and Feta Tart (adapted from Bon Appetit)

• 1/3 C cream
• 4 oz feta cheese, divided
• 1 17.3 oz pkg of frozen puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed
• 8 oz of marinated artichoke hearts (drained and halved); made from recipe above or purchased from grocery store
• Olive oil
• 1 lg egg, beaten to blend (see note below)

1. Preheat oven to 425F. Blend cream and 2 oz of feta until smooth (I did this with my stick, immersion blender - you can use a food processor, if you have one and want to deal with that, or even just a hand mixer to reduce the amount of cleanup required.)
2. From your 17.3 ounce package of pastry, unfold each onto a piece of parchment paper, and lightly roll it out to smooth the fold marks. Place the parchment and pastry on top of a baking sheet. Using a sharp paring knife, make a frame/edge to your crust by lightly scoring the pastry about one inch in from all edges (make sure not to cut all the way through)
3. Spread the feta-cream sauce over the pastries (divide evenly between the two) and stay within the frame-like border. Arrange the artichoke pieces evenly over the feta sauce and crumble the remaining feta over the pastries evenly as well.; drizzle with olive oil and brush the border with the beaten egg wash to glaze the crust.
4. Bake at 425F for about 10 minutes or so; until the pastry is puffed and beginning to lightly brown. Reduce heat to 375F and continue to cook until the pastry is deep golden in color and the tarts are cooked completely through (about 20 minutes longer - keeping an eye that they don't get too dark)
5. Serve warm or room temp (they can be made up to 2 hours in advance and left to stand at room temp.)

Note: if you'd prefer not to use an egg for the wash since the entire egg will not be used and unless your scramble it up to eat, it will be wasted, you can use a cream wash on the crust. The results are as follows: 

• egg wash- super shiny, browned finish to baked goods
• cream or milk wash - no shine, browned crust
• butter wash - matte, soft finish - no crispness

This tart was out of this world fantastic and considering that puff pastry and marinated artichokes (or canned, even) should be freezer and pantry staples, this is a good standby recipe to whip up when you don't have anything planned. If your clan aren't artichoke eaters, you could sub in some caramelized onions as well.  Served with a standard green salad, this tart was a delicious, quick and rather "Fraunchy" meal.

Happy Cooking!

 sld