19 September 2007

CSA Week 16 - Tomato Tart

No squash (winter or summer) - so we are staving off the despair of winter squash for at least another week!

  • Italia Peppers (4)
  • Potatoes (1 quart)
  • Juliet Tomatoes (1 pint)
  • Beefsteak Tomatoes (1 quart)
  • Broccoli Rabe
  • Tatsoi
  • Garlic (2 heads)
  • Sweet Corn (3 ears)
  • Salad Mix
  • Basil
  • Arugula

Last night's dinner was a splendid tomato tart, though the recipe called it a "pie". But it was open-faced and baked in a tart shell, so I think it's a tomato tart. Besides, I'm the queen of tarts, not the queen of pies. It's got better prosody.

Tomato Pie*
(Adapted from From Asparagus to Zucchini: Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition)
Pie crust
6 plum tomatoes, cut 1/4 inch thick
Salt (optional)
2 cups shredded cheese**
Olive oil
1/3 cup minced fresh basil
1/2 t. ground pepper



Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Fit pie crust to a 9-10" tart pan. Do not prick crust. Partially bake 9-11 minutes or until golden. (If crust puffs up, gently press back with back of wooden spoon.) Remove and cool crust. Reduce oven heat to 375 degrees. Sprinkle tomatoes with salt, if desired, and place in single layer on paper towels; let drain 30 minutes***. Pat dry. Sprinkle cheese evenly in cooled pastry shell. Arrange tomatoes over cheese in an overlapping circular pattern, covering surface. Drizzle tomatoes with olive oil. Sprinkle with basil and pepper. Bake 30-35 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. Serve hot or at room temperature.

* The recipe called it a "southern" tomato pie. I don't know what's southern about it, but I'm from the Northeast.

** The recipe called for mozzarella or swiss; I used cheddar because it's what I had. I think almost any cheese would work, except maybe Velveeta or Brie.

*** I did this draining thing, but I think it was unnecessary. Maybe it would be a good idea if you were using beefsteak tomatoes instead of plum...

11 comments:

Stacie said...

You had a CSA day without squash?! We've had so much yellow squash I think if I never see it again I wouldn't mind. Brian, who always claimed he would eat anything put in front of him, has started to beg for no squash.

It has, apparently, been a very good year for yellow squash.

painted maypole said...

queen of tarts may sound better, but baby, I love me some PIE!

Anonymous said...

Tomato pie, huh? I've never had it. (I have that cookbook, too, but I guess I haven't explored the tomato pages.)

I got to have a little bundle of Tatsoi one time in my first few weeks of CSA, and I loved it. I didn't know what to do with it, so I made stuff up. I had some on a grilled cheese sandwich, and then put some into a hot bowl of brown rice and cheese. Both experiments were yummy.

Melanie D. said...

Sounds delicious, I love tomatoes! Though I'd have to fix a second dish for my kids.

I checked into CSA around here, I think it sounds great. No such luck, beyond the local farmer's market I found no listings.

Aliki2006 said...

Thanks for the recipe! I've never made a tomato tart before and always wanted to try one--maybe I will this weekend!

pinknest said...

lovely lovely! i was just thinking of making a tomato tart today!

niobe said...

Actually, you're the mag of pies. (running away very quickly)

Julie Pippert said...

Sigh. If only my kids ate tomatoes.

Julie
Using My Words

Furrow said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Furrow said...

I didn't mean to delete that comment. I just wanted to correct where I called "B," my husband, "be." As a nickname, I think that's a bit too existential.

Anyway, I had said that B cooks a lot of veggie pies (though maybe they are tarts, too) with what we get from our CSA, so I'll pass this on to him. We're getting mostly tomatoes these days.

We had a tomato pie disaster a few years ago, but that is because he used rosemary instead of basil (both of which were in the garden, and he didn't know better). I've almost erased the horrifying aftertaste from my mind.

nonlineargirl said...

Despair of WINTER squash? For me, winter squash is happiness, but summer squash is a horror. No more zucchini, please.

I made a similar tart recently, but with puff pastry, fromage blanc (a soft cheese that you spread on the crust), plus kalamata olives and red onion. Happiness! We have a zillion tomatoes this week, so I think it may be time for soup.

(and yes, plums are not as liquidy. With slicing tomatoes dumping the seeds is good. I usually cut them in half, squeeze gently to let the seeds/juice out, and then slice up.)