Sunday, October 31, 2010

French Tomato Tart

You'll see David Lebovitz listed as one of the blogs that I follow.  I've not attempted any of his recipes until yesterday, when I used his blog as my go-to for a tart recipe to take to Amanda's house for Halloween horror-movie watching.  I wanted to bake something involving cheese, and figured it was about time to get my tart pan out of storage, considering I've only used it once for a Godiva chocolate-peanut butter tart for a company bake-off.
I was This Close to making his Swiss Chard Tart (next on my list), but chose to go with the French Tomato as November means it's pretty much time to throw tomato recipes out the window until next summer.  I scavenged through Hennings' cheese selection until settling on Chevre fresh goat cheese with honey (and eliminated the honey called for in the recipe).  I also substituted Pillsbury pie crust dough for the homemade dough recipe David suggests- my time was limited and this was a HUGE time-saver.
This tart was okay.  Two complaints: I could have used more herbs (I went with tarragon and thyme), and the crust on the bottom was soggy- which could be due to the amount of olive oil called for in the recipe.  I could have probably thrown in more mustard to add to the flavor- but after tasting the mustard before spreading onto the crust, I decided the strength of the flavor could take away from the rest of the tart, and was careful not to go overboard.  I had some trouble with the goat cheese being too soft- I should have left it in the fridge until I needed it- so it was more patchy and not quite as nice-looking as the tart made by Lebovitz.
I would make this again, with the addition of honey, additional herbs, and a bit more mustard.  It will make a good staple to pair with wine and a salad during the summer.

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2010/05/french-tomato-tart-recipe/

French Tomato Tart

Ingredients

Pillsbury refridgerated pie crust dough
Dijon or whole-grain mustard
2 large ripe tomatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
2 tbsp chopped fresh herbs- such as thyme, chives, chervil, tarragon, basil, oregano
8 oz fresh or slightly aged goat cheese, sliced into rounds
Optional: 1 1/2 tbsp flavorful honey (white truffle would be good)

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Unroll pie crust dough and transfer to tart pan, trimming edges so dough does not flow over the sides.
(I used my extra dough to wrap around apricots and plum jam leftover from my Bacon-Wrapped Apricots)
Spread an even layer of mustard over the bottom of the tart dough, let sit a few minutes to dry out.
Slice the tomatoes (about 1/2" thick) and arrange evenly over the mustard in a single layer.  Drizzle the olive oil over the top.
Sprinkle with about half of the herbs, then arrange the slices of goat cheese on top.  Add the remaing herbs, and drizzle with honey (if using).
Bake for 30 minutes until dough is cooked, tomatoes are tender, and the cheese is nicely browned.






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