Tomato Tart from Vicki Delany

 It’s here! The most wonderful time of the year. Tomato season! If you are lucky enough to live where the farm stands are overflowing with fresh tomatoes, this makes the perfect dish for lunch or a light supper, served with a fresh green salad. I highly recommend using heirloom tomatoes in this dish, as a variety of colors makes it truly pop.

The tomatoes are salted and drained otherwise the crust will be too wet

Tomato Tart

Crust

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

6 tbsp. unsalted butter, from the refrigerator

3 tbsp.  ice water

Filling

1 1/2 lb. tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch slices

1 tsp salt

2 tsp whole-grain mustard

1 1/2 cups Gruyere cheese, grated 

1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped

Bottom of Form

Tart Dough

1. In bowl of an electric mixer combine the flour and salt. Add the butter and blend into the flour until the butter is pea-sized. Gradually add the water and mix just until the dough sticks together when pressed. Form into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. With the rack in the middle position, preheat the oven to 400°F
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick. Line a 9-inch (23 cm) tart pan with the dough and prick all over with a fork. Cover with foil and fill with pie weights.
4. Bake for 30 minutes or until the edge of the crust is lightly golden. Remove the foil and pie weights. Turn the oven down to 350°F (180°C).

Filling

5. Meanwhile, place the tomato slices on a wire rack set over a baking sheet to allow the excess liquid to drain. Sprinkle with the salt and let drain for 15 minutes. Pat dry with paper towels.
6. Spread the mustard along the bottom of the tart. Layer the cheese, herbs and tomatoes on top.
7. Bake for 20 minutes or until the tomatoes are hot and the cheese is slightly melted. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving.

It’ll be Christmas before you know it. And what better way to welcome the holiday than with a Year Round Christmas Mystery.  DYING IN A WINTER WONDERLAND, coming September 28 from Penguin Random House. 

Easiest Tomato Tart @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: Yay! It's tomato season here in Connecticut and we are having ripe tomato everything! For a little background on today's recipe, we were having guests over for cocktail hour after a grinding few weeks of finishing a book. (Key West food critic mystery #11!) I wanted the recipe to be easy, delicious, and hopefully fine for our dinner hour too. This checked every box...



Ingredients

1 cup ricotta

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 small red onion or shallot

3 medium or 2 large ripe tomatoes

8-10 basil leaves

1 teaspoon sharp French mustard

I box good quality puff pastry

I like Dufour's classic puff pastry, which is in the freezer section of our local Bishop's market. You do have to remember to move it to the refrigerator a few hours or even a day ahead so it thaws.

Slice the tomatoes and set them on paper towels to drain.

Mix the ricotta with the mustard. Sliver the basil, grate the Parmesan and add those too. Grind in black pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, unfold your puff pastry onto a large sheet of parchment paper. Pinch the edges around the rectangle to make a border and prick the pastry all over with a fork.

Spread the ricotta mustard mixture onto the bottom of the tart, leaving the outside edges bare. 

Arrange the sliced onion over the ricotta, followed by tomato slices and more basil if you like. Sprinkle a bit more Parmesan cheese over the top. 

Bake at 385 until brown and bubbly, 30-35 minutes. Use a pizza cutter to slice into squares--this is quite delicious at room temperature so great to make ahead! 

Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mystery series, featuring fiesty food critic Hayley Snow. THE KEY LIME CRIME is available now!

You can order it at an independent bookstore, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and anywhere books are sold!

"Hayley and Nathan make an appealing pair, and the food descriptions and Key West atmosphere are equally enticing—a sure bet to draw readers of foodie mysteries."

—Booklist

And super-psyched to see the new book chosen for one of the best new books in Woman's World!

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Fresh Tomato Tart #recipe @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: I was thinking of making a southern tomato pie, a la Paula Dean, as our tomatoes are coming in thick and fast. But reading the recipe, a cup of mayonnaise? And all that cheese and butter and salt? Fortunately, an email came into my inbox from David Lebovitz, and he had a link to a rustic tomato tart. And then I remembered a high calorie version I'd prepared with puff pastry. I decided I could combine the three and hopefully come up with something delicious. I used David Lebovitz's tart dough (though with less salt,) which is easier than a piecrust. And the whole thing is less overwhelming than a Southern mayonnaise pie!

Ingredients

Two large ripe tomatoes, sliced thinly
Fresh basil, as much as you please (8-12 leaves), sliced
One shallot or a bunch of green onions, chopped
About 3/4 of a cup grated cheese (I used the end of a fresh mozzarella ball and some Swiss)
Grated fresh Parmesan for the top
2 tablespoons mayonnaise (or even less)
2 teaspoons mustard of your choice (I used my favorite Kozlic's Amazing maple)
Several drops or more Tabasco

For the crust

One and a half cups flour
4 1/2 ounces unsalted butter
Pinch of salt
One large egg
2 to 3 tablespoons cold water

Cut the butter into the flour. I did this using my food processor. Mix the egg with 2 tablespoons of water and beat together. Add this to the food processor and pulse until the batter holds together. Here's where you can add more water if you need, I did not. Roll this out between a sheet of parchment paper on the bottom and a piece of waxed paper on top. And transfer it to a baking sheet on the parchment paper and peel off the waxed paper.

Mix mayo with mustard. Spread the mayonnaise mustard mixture onto the bottom of the tart, leaving the outside edges bare. Arrange the chopped shallots over the mayo, followed by tomato slices and basil. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and fold in the edges. Bake at 385 until brown and bubbly, 30-35 minutes.

Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mysteries--find them wherever books are sold! Find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest--Instagram too...

Easy as Pie Tomato-Leek Tart #Recipe @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: At the point in the garden in which we had gorgeous tomatoes, decent-sized leeks, and nice basil, the idea of a tomato-leek tart came to mind. If you're lucky, you'll be hitting the end of the tomato season too about now--and ready to try this tart!

Because of my writing deadlines, I didn't have time to make a French crust, so I settled on pre-made puff pastry.

I think this could also be made with plum tomatoes in winter without suffering too much. We had it for supper with green beans and salad. You could also cut it into smaller pieces and serve as an hors d'oeuvres. 


Ingredients:

1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 1/2 Tablespoons sour cream
1  teaspoon Dijon mustard
Freshly ground black pepper
3 small leeks, white and green parts only
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2-3 large or 5-6 small tomatoes, sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 cup cheddar cheese
8 to 10 small basil leaves, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry about 9 by 12 inches and move it to a parchment-lined baking sheet. 

Clean the leeks well, and then chop. Saute them for a few minutes in olive oil until soft. Mix the leeks with the sour cream and mustard. Spread this mixture evenly over pastry and then make a little fort around the edges of the pastry to hold ingredients in. 

 
Sprinkle cheddar cheese and ground pepper over all and refrigerate while you prepare the tomatoes.

 

Cut the tomatoes into slices and chop the basil.






 Top the prepared pastry with sliced tomatoes, sprinkle with chopped basil. 
 



Bake until the edges are crisp, about 25 minutes.

This is by no means a low-cal dinner (I made the mistake of reading the pastry box after we ate), but it's not time-consuming and it looks and tastes like a million dollars.

You might want to alter things a bit by trying Boursin cheese in place of the sour cream mixture, or adding the basil at the end if you like a stronger flavor.

Honestly, the two of us had to hold ourselves back from eating the whole tray at one sitting. 

MURDER WITH GANACHE, the fourth Key West mystery, is in stores now. DEATH WITH ALL THE TRIMMINGS will be out in December. You can pre-order it now!

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