Tomato Tart Round III: This Time, Gluten-Free + A Tomato Party!

FreshTartSteph — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 06:07:33 PDT

I should have titled this post, How to Beat a Recipe to Death. Seriously. This is the third time I've posted a variation on it but hey, a winner is a winner, and this one is A Winner. It originated with the lovely blog 101 Cookbooks and I've just continued to play with it.

The first time I made it as written. The second I adapted for bite-sized tarts. This go-round I made it gluten-free and oh wow, it's quite lovely. The addition of almond flour is a big win, adding an extra layer of crunch that is a dreamy pairing with the tangy Parmesan cheese.

I've also started layering in tomatoes of varying sizes for even more visual and flavor impact. Good tomato fun. Treat yourself before our juicy friends are gone for yet another season...oh, I hate to even think of it.

I took this latest version along to one of the highlights of my whole summer - a Tomato Party! Dreamed up and hosted by Heidi Skoog and her husband Kern Nickerson and Heidi's cousin Arianna Skoog, every item on the delicious potluck menu was made from tomatoes!

Heavenly.

Heidi and Kern opened the party with a tomato consomme cocktail, a ridiculously delightful concoction of tomatoes, basil, vodka, olive oil, and salt, slurried together then dripped through cheese cloth into a clear, blushing liquid. Pure essence of summer, those sips, they lingered on the tongue like the very best of kisses.

Mmm.

From there we graduated to juicy Bloody Marys, brought by Dena Alspach, thick with homemade tomato juice and zingy spices.

Better than dessert. Even without a hangover. Yep.

As we sipped and chatted, we dug into Heidi and Kern's tomato/fresh mozzarella salad (dubbed The Mothership, love), a bowl of perfect cherry tomatoes from their crazy-awesome heirloom garden, as well as their version of roasted tomatoes with goat cheese.

Dena brought roasted tomatoes with goat cheese too (great tomatoes, great tomato minds...), and an insane heirloom tomato salad with tomato vinaigrette - yes! We were all soon spooning that dressing over everything, so fantastic and rich.

I so wished I'd taken a stab at a tomato-strawberry ice cream, or some such food fun for a tomato-y dessert, but...next year.

We joked about how a huge blast of tomatoes would mean none of us would be getting colds soon. Or prostate cancer.

Whew.

For now, in case you have a stash of lovely tomatoes on your counter, and you're somehow tired of BLTs, have at this easy, cheesy tart.

End of summer happiness.

Tomato Tart with Parmesan Crust (Gluten-Free Version)
Very lightly adapted from 101 Cookbooks by Heidi Swanson
Serves 8

According to my friend Joy Summers, the nutty cheese crust is like a savory cookie frosted with Mother Nature's bounty. Love.

4 medium-sized, in-season, ripe heirloom tomatoes, mixed varieties (3-4 inches in diameter), cut into 1/4-inch slices
4 small, ripe heirloom tomatoes (1-2 inches in diameter), cut into 1/4-inch slices
8-10 ripe cherry tomatoes of varying colors, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 tsp. fine-grain sea salt
1/2 c. cold butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1/2 c. almond flour
1/2 c. gluten-free, all-purpose flour (or whole wheat flour if not gluten-free)
4-oz. chunk Parmesan cheese, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 Tbsp. ice cold water
best quality extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 c. torn basil
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350˚F.

Place tomatoes in a single layer on paper towels and sprinkle them with fine-grained sea salt. Top the tomatoes with another layer of paper towels and press gently. Let the tomatoes sit until you are ready to use them.

In the bowl of a food processor, grind the Parmesan until very finely grated and fluffy. Remove about 2 Tbsp. of cheese and set aside for later.

Add butter and both flours to the cheese and pulse in short bursts until the dough is sandy-textured with pea-sized pieces of butter. With a few more pulses, blend in the 2 Tbsp. of ice water. The dough should start to come together in a ball and when pinched, stick together. Transfer the dough to a removable-bottom tart pan, then press the dough uniformly into the pan, patting out a 1/4-inch edge as you go. Place in the refrigerator and chill for 15 minutes.

Pull the crust out of the refrigerator and poke several times with a fork. Cover the tart with a square of aluminum foil and cover with pie weights. Slide the crust onto the middle rack in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes, pull the shell out of the oven and remove the pie weights, then gently peel back the foil. Place the uncovered tart back in the oven, weight free, and bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until it is a deep golden brown color. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the reserved grated Parmesan (this will act as another barrier to the tomato liquid). Place the pan on a rack and let cool to room temperature before filling.

Just before serving, arrange tomato slices on the crust. Drizzle with best quality extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle with basil. Grind black pepper over the whole. Serve immediately.

A Last Look at (Moderately) Healthy Eats, 2009 Version

FreshTartSteph — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 09:21:01 PST

Happy Anniversary Browns

FreshTartSteph — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:04:00 PDT

Ahhhh, it's good to be home, as usual. We had a great time yesterday, hanging with Jon & Amy Brown, showing them all around the Hamptons, sitting on Georgica Beach, wrapping up with a romantic dinner (for their anniversary!) at The American Hotel in Sag Harbor. Man did I laugh yesterday, seriously, my stomach was aching. Hard to beat hanging out with hilarious people in a gorgeous spot. And oh, throw in some killer eats to boot. Right on!

Today, smooth trip home, minimal head-bobbing as I slept on the plane (thanks to a window seat), no wait for our bags because suddenly no one checks luggage (per-bag fees, ouch), home before rush hour. All good.

Except what to do for dinner? Obviously no groceries, and truly no motivation to shop, I dug in the freezer and discovered...Trader Joe's puff pastry. I glanced at the still-lovely tomatoes on my counter and thought...must use. I poked around in the fridge and found...fresh goat cheese. OK, with some herbs from the deck, and a drizzle of olive oil, we had the ingredients for a pretty sa-weettomato tart, so...that's what we had.

Twenty minutes later, voila, good stuff, especially alongside some softly scrambled eggs.

And now, we are goners. I'm not even half unpacked and I just don't care. As long as I can wash my face and brush my teeth, climb into some clean pajamas and find my bed, I'm all set. Good sleeping weather here in Minnesota, cool and dry - crank those windows open and have yourselves a good night. Baby.

Moderate it: man, we had an interesting - and perfectly gross - lunch at LaGuardia airport today. We arrived hungry, opted for the Burger King just past security in the Northwest terminal, scoped out the calorie counts posted next to each item (welcome to NY!), and sat down at a dirty table to eat bad food. Instant moderation, thank you very much. Blech.

Fresh Tart

Tomato Tart Round III: This Time, Gluten-Free + A Tomato Party!

A Last Look at (Moderately) Healthy Eats, 2009 Version

Happy Anniversary Browns