August 23, 2020
I can’t believe we are already entering the last few days of August. With summer winding down, and a new school year starting up again, I’ve decided to refresh my skills and return back to school. This time, I’m focusing on improving my digital photography skills through an online certificate program. Virtual class starts for me in just a few days. The end of summer means an eventual transition to fall produce, sweater weather, and spiced lattes. Before cooler weather hits, I’m trying to take advantage of the summer fruits and veggies still at their peak of freshness. Throughout the summer, I’ve been obsessed with working fresh herbs, stone fruits, and tomatoes into as many dishes as possible. When Kevin and I visited our friends a few weeks ago for a small birthday gathering, our friends gifted us with some fresh herbs and tomatoes straight from their garden. They had been growing the produce and herbs all summer long. Their heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil were finally ripe for picking. I stared at the ingredients and my mind conjured up images of tomato pesto tart, a variation of my favorite tomato tart. There really is nothing better than using produce at their peak of freshness and letting the bounty of the summer produce be the real stars in a dish. All of my tarts always start out with my trusty pie crust recipe. I’ve used my pie crust recipe in many galettes, hand pies, pastry pockets, and holiday pies. My pie crust recipe is beyond easy to whip up and turns out perfect every single time. For the pesto filling, instead of pine nuts (which I didn’t have on hand), I used the walnuts I had sitting in my pantry. The walnuts worked as the perfect substitute for pine nuts and still yielded a savory, flavorful pesto. The other ingredients (Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper) were all items I had on hand. These items are always in stock in my pantry. I pull them out all the time for quick meals. All I had to do to whip up my pesto was to drop all of those ingredients directly into a food processor, pulse the ingredients for several seconds, and the pesto was done. Building the tomato pesto tart was the fun part. I rolled out the pie crust dough, topped the dough with pesto, and arranged the ripe heirloom tomatoes, cut into thick slices, on top of the pesto layer. Crimping the edges of the tart was the fun part. The inspiration for my rectangular shaped tomato pesto tart was the beautiful images of summer produce postage stamps. I popped the tomato tart on a baking sheet into the oven and thirty minutes later, the tomato pesto tart was ready for consumption. The tomato pesto tart turned out so delicious, I just had to make it again over the weekend. I swapped the tomatoes around for the second trial run and used a combination of beefsteak tomato and cherry tomatoes to give the tomato pesto tart varied tastes and textures. I made sure to keep the pie crust dough as rectangular as possible when rolling out the dough for the tart crust. My tomato pesto tart came together rather quickly. Once baked, the tart turned into the flakiest, sweet, and savory morning treat. To help balance out the savory tart, I prepared a simple summer fruit salad featuring my other favorite summer produce bounty – peach, nectarine, and mango – topped with some thinly sliced mint leaves. Kevin and I were both delighted by how tasty and visually stunning my tomato pesto tart turned out. I just had to capture the moment, and share my recipe.
For the tomato pesto tart:
For the pie dough:
· 1½ cups all-purpose flour
· ½ teaspoon kosher salt
· ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
· ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
· ¼ cup cold water
For the walnut pesto:
· 8-10 sprigs basil
· 2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, cut into cubes
· 3 cloves garlic
· ½ cup raw walnuts
· ½ teaspoon kosher salt
· 2 tablespoons olive oil
For the rest of the tart:
· 1 beefsteak tomato (or other large tomato of your choice), cut into thick slices
· 8-10 cherry tomatoes, halved
Directions:
1) To make the pie dough, combine the flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor. Pulse for 2 seconds. Add the unsalted butter. Pulse for 5 seconds. Add in the water. Pulse until the dough comes together, about 10-20 seconds. Remove the dough from the food processor and place onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Form the dough into a disc. Wrap the dough up in the sheet of plastic wrap and let the dough chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour. When you are ready to use the pie crust dough, remove the disc from the refrigerator and let it sit for at least 10 minutes before using.
2) To make the walnut pesto, toss the basil, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, garlic, walnuts, kosher salt, and olive oil into a food processor. Pulse for 30 seconds to 1 minute until the ingredients are blended together. Set aside.
3) Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
4) To make the tart, roll out the pie dough onto a lightly floured surface. When rolling out the dough, try to keep the dough in a rectangular shape. Trim off any excess dough, if needed. Transfer the pie dough onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Evenly spread the pesto over the dough in a thin layer leaving about a half to 1-inch border around all edges. Arrange the tomato slices and cherry tomato halves all over the pie dough in one flat layer with any design you like. Crimp the edges of the tomato pesto tart.
5) Place the baking sheet with the tomato pesto tart into the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. Once time is up, remove the baking sheet from the oven. Let the tomato pesto tart rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Takeaways: Any variety of tomatoes work well in the tomato pesto tart. I’ve used heirloom tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, Campari tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and even other colors of tomatoes in a tart. I like a variation in sizes, flavors, and textures of tomatoes when making a tomato tart. While I usually brush on egg wash prior to baking my tart for a glossy finish, I omitted it this time around and the tart still turned out beautiful and delicious.