Kate and I spent a day in her home in Healdsburg this week, which was fun girlfriend time. She made lunch for us, which consisted of a fresh summer salad and a fantastic tomato & cheese tart. Her tart was as beautiful as it was delicious, so I just had to know how to make it! The bonus is that it is quick and easy to make. Here is Kate’s Tomato & Cheese Tart recipe, which she generously shared with me…
Ingredients:
1 pie crust (either homemade or store-bought)
1 roasted head of garlic
sliced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups of grated Fontina cheese
Kate uses these Pillsbury pre-made pie crusts, which make this recipe super simple. I’m sure there are others on the market, so it’s worth investigating, but these work well. All you do is remove one of the two pre-rolled pic crusts and mold it into a tart tin.
Kate recommends baking the crust for 10-12 minutes until golden brown (at the temperature recommended on the box) before adding the tart ingredients, as – in her experience – it makes the crust more crispy, compared to loading it with ingredients at the same time.
When I made this at home the next day, I sliced ‘Gold Medal’ and ‘Mandarin’ tomatoes from my garden and salted them, placing them in a strainer/colander to allow the tomatoes to release some of their liquid into a bowl below it. This ensures the tart won’t have much juice or liquid in it from the tomatoes.
Once the pie crust is done, Kate squeezes out an entire head of garlic that’s been pre-roasted and spreads it uniformly on the baked pie crust, which smells fabulous. Once the garlic has been spread about, she sprinkles a cup of Fontina cheese around the pie crust.
Then, Kate layers the tomatoes around the tart in a pretty pattern, finishing it off with the remaining Fontina cheese. Once the tart is assembled, bake at 375˚ until the cheese is brownish and bubbly, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, allow to cool a bit and then sprinkle with freshly cut basil on top.
This tart is so beautiful and delicious. Try making this with some of your own favorite garden tomatoes!
