Tomato Goat Cheese Tart

Copyright 2007 by Cooking With The Single Guy

Ingredients:
5 oz. goat cheese, room temperature
5 oz. ricotta cheese
4 to 5 small tomatoes
¼ cup fresh basil, chiffonade (thinly sliced), reserve 5 leaves for garnish
2 eggs
1 package frozen tart pastry dough or pie crust

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Defrost frozen pastry dough per the box’s instructions. Place into 8” or 9” French tart tin pan, pressing the edges up against the side of the pan. Poke a few holes in the bottom with a fork.

In a large bowl, add goat cheese, ricotta cheese and eggs. Blend well with a mixer and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add sliced basil and fold into your cheese filling. Pour everything into the tart shell. (You may not use up all the filling depending on the size of your tart pan.) Don’t fill to the top. Leave some room for the tomatoes.

Slice tomatoes into thin pieces and then place on the top of your tart in a concentric circle with each tomato overlapping slightly. Start with the outer layer and then place some basil leaves on top, and then finish with the final top layer of tomato slices.

Place on cooking sheet and place in oven and bake for about 40 minutes until the tomatoes are roasted and the cheese is slightly golden on top. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack before slicing. Serve warm.

Makes 4 to 6 servings. Serve with a mixed green salad.

Pair with a glass of Cote du Rhone or Syrah.

TIP: If you can’t find frozen pastry dough specifically for French tarts, then buy a frozen pie crust and remove it from the pan and flatten with a rolling pin. Then place into your tart pan. Another possibility is also using puff pastry dough and cutting it into a circle to fit your pan. Some people recommend cooking the crust first before adding the filling if you like your crust more golden brown. If you do this, cook crust for about 20 minutes and then add filling and tomatoes and cook for another 30 minutes. Be sure to weigh down the filling with some beans or rice to avoid it from puffing up when cooking it by itself.