Since we are currently experiencing Victoria pink snow and the cherry trees have almost finished blooming, I, of course am on to dreams of summer. And summer means fresh tomatoes. When I used to live in a rather small townhouse facing North I was always able to grow tomatoes. However now that I’m in Victoria which is technically warmer than Vancouver, it would seem that the ocean air constantly toys with my ability in the vegetable garden. This past weekend I decided to try yet again to grow a vegetable garden. Now I have a lovely garden that is also full of morning glory which means that in order to grow vegetables I had to find a way to eradicate the morning glory. This is never easy or cheap.
Raised garden boxes seem to be the answer. Thankfully my trustworthy companion is extremely capable in responding to my “I would like requests” and immediately begins to design whatever it is that I’ve dreamt up.
So he built me two large garden boxes. Now it’s just the heavy stuff like getting the dirt to and in the garden box. And oh yes, researching how to grow vegetables and planting them would help too I guess.
Of course researching vegetable gardens takes time and it’s so easy to get sidetracked when you type in tomato and find tomato tart. Well maybe I typed tart too…
So while I’m procrastinating and dreaming of all those lovely ripe tomatoes, I decided to make a summer tart. What could be better than a goat cheese tart with stuffed cherry tomatoes wrapped in prosciutto to make you feel that summer really is just around the corner. This recipe was featured on Food 52 and cried out to be made immediately. Research can wait but tarts cannot. I opened my doors to the sun so that I could revel in the warmth and transport myself to summer. And of course I made the tart. Thank you Food 52 and Phyllis Grant for a great recipe that will be repeated. http://food52.com/recipes/37406-tomato-tart-with-goat-cheese-quark-prosciutto-and-gremolata.
- [b]Pastry[/b] from Michel Roux
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup butter cut into small pieces and softened
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp berry sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 1/2 tbsp cold water
- [b]Tart[/b]
- 9 small tomatoes
- 4 to 6 anchovies packed in oil, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp drained capers, finely chopped
- 4 tbsp finely chopped parsley (or any combination of tarragon, parsley, basil, mint, sage, arugula, or cilantro)
- 3-4 cloves garlic, microplaned
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- zest from 1 lemon
- 4 tbsp very finely grated parmesan
- 1 tbsp olive oil or gremolata olive oil – just enough to bind
- 1 egg yolk, room temperature
- 3/4 cup fresh goat cheese, room temp
- 2 to 3 tbsp heavy cream or half and half, room temperature
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt, plus additional for tomatoes
- 1/2 cup quark cheese, room temperature
- 9 slices prosciutto (as thinly sliced as possible)
- [b]Pastry[/b]
- Put the flour on the counter and make a well. Put the egg, sugar, butter and salt in the middle. Mix and cream the ingredients in the well with your fingers. Gradually draw the flour in bit by bit working the dough until it has a grainy texture. Add the cold water and mix until it holds together. knead the dough by pushing it away from you 5-6 times until it is smooth. Roll into a ball and wrap in plastic. Put it in the fridge until you are ready to use it.
- [url href=”undefined”][img src=”https://lemonandtomato.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/pastry-8.jpg” width=”550″ height=”367″ class=”aligncenter size-full” title=”pastry-8″][/url]
- [b]Tart[/b]
- Heat oven to 375 degrees
- Roll out your dough and press into the square tart pan – much easier to lay out than a round pan but you can use either. Keep the dough in the fridge until you are ready covered with plastic wrap.
- Core the tomatoes. Use your fingers to scoop out as much of the liquid, pulp, and seeds as possible. Place tomatoes cored-side down to let excess liquid drip out.
- Mix together the anchovies, capers, herbs, garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, Parmesan, and olive oil.
- Mix the egg yolk, goat cheese, cream, lemon zest, and salt until smooth & spreadable (almost pourable).
- Spread goat cheese mixture all over the bottom of the tart. On top of this mixture add a thin layer of quark.
- [url href=”undefined”][img src=”https://lemonandtomato.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/stuffed-tomatoes-8.jpg” width=”413″ height=”550″ class=”aligncenter size-full” title=”stuffed tomatoes-8″][/url]
- Sprinkle a small pinch of salt into each tomato cavity, and then evenly distribute the caper anchovy mixture between the 9 tomatoes.
- Wrap each tomato in a piece of prosciutto. You may need to tear the prosciutto in pieces to wrap.
- Gently press the tomatoes down into the cheese bed.
- [url href=”undefined”][img src=”https://lemonandtomato.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/tomato-quark-8.jpg” width=”420″ height=”550″ class=”aligncenter size-full” title=”tomato quark-8″][/url]
- Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. About 25 minutes in, gently push the cooking tomatoes down a bit.
- If the tart shell starts to brown too much, cover it with aluminum foil while the tomatoes cook. Remove the tart from the oven when the cheese is starting to brown and the tomatoes are starting to shrivel and darken.
- Cool for 30 minutes. Carefully remove the outer ring of the tart pan. Slide the tart off of the metal bottom and onto a cutting board. Cut into squares.
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