Rustic Tomato Tart
Summer has arrived in its full glory here in East Tennessee. And along with the heat comes a bounty of vegetables! I am so thankful for friends that are generous to share their bounty with us. The beautiful tomatoes inspired this Rustic Tomato Tart I made today.
Let me encourage you to use what you have on hand in your kitchen or in your garden at home. And feel free to make your own pie crust. I chose not to do that. Pie crust frustrates me. So, as a gift to myself on this Friday, I used store bought.
Cheese
I like to keep an assortment of cheeses on hand for times like these. Or for a surprise visit with friends. My favorites to cook with are aged Goudas like Parrano, different types of Parmesan, Swiss, Havarti for burgers (I used this today for the bottom of our Rustic Tomato Tart), and I could keep going. Let’s just say, I love cheese. Name a type of food we are making and I will have several favorites.
Tomatoes
Thankfully I have a sweet friend that gave me these beautiful tomatoes. If you have to purchase tomatoes, I would suggest heirloom varieties. A farmer’s market is a great place to find fresh, flavorful tomatoes for this tart. I personally love the pink or purple varieties for this tart or a tomato pie.
Assembly
This Rustic Tomato Tart comes together in a similar fashion to a tomato pie. Only a few steps differ. You cannot par bake the crust with cheese in the bottom to help ensure the crust is not soggy from the moisture of the tomatoes. So, to combat that we use egg white and sliced Havarti cheese. See the directions below to get the full details.
Rustic Tomato Tart
Ingredients
- 1 ½- 2 lb heirloom tomatoes
- 3 oz prosciutto
- 8 oz sliced Havarti or Monterey jack cheese
- ½ lb parmesan Reggiano grated
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 egg separated
- ½ lb aged gouda grated
- 1 clove garlic minced
- Fresh basil
- Fresh thyme
- 1 refrigerated pie crust
- Salt and pepper
- Dry Italian seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Slice tomatoes ¼” thick, arrange on tray covered in paper towels and sprinkle generously with salt. Allow to sit for 10-20 minutes to remove moisture from tomatoes.
- In a medium size bowl mix mayonnaise, egg yolk, and half of aged gouda with some black pepper. Set aside.
- Take a sheet of parchment paper and unroll your pie crust on it. Use a rolling pin to roll your pie crust 13”-14” in diameter.
- Brush the center of the pie crust with egg white leaving 2” around the edge. Then lay slices of Havarti cheese on top of the egg white.
- Now, start layering your tart. Start with tomato slices, small dollops of mayo mixture, prosciutto, herbs, garlic, parmesan, and repeat. Finish with mayo mixture and parmesan.
- To fold the crust in start on one side folding the crust over the filling. Then pleat the crust, trying not to break it, and pleat again. Continue all the way around the tart until you are finished.
- Brush the crust with egg white. Sprinkle with black pepper and dry Italian seasoning.
- Bake for 1 hour.
- Allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.
