tart | Dishin and Dishes

By Katie

Mr. Wonderful and I are on our own this week, as the kids are all gone doing summer stuff and we’ve been able to take our time with dinner and experiment with a few recipes we’ve been meaning to try.

Last night we decided to try a savory tart we’d seen recently. We varied it a bit and made our own version. This tart can be made using a regular size pie crust, or you can make individual ones for each person. We were feeling a bit romantic and special without the kids, so we made little ones and served them alongside some roasted chicken. I will add the pie crust recipe to the printable recipe, or you can buy one of those pre-rolled pie crusts in the refrigeratored section of your grocery store. Either way, the beauty of these tarts is – they need to look rustic, like an Italian crostata. Follow along with me as I show you how easy these are to make.

Cut out 2 small round circles out of your pie dough. I wanted mine to be about 7 inches in diameter for an individual tart, so after scoping out my kitchen, I spotted a lid to a sauce pan that was perfect and used it like a giant cookie cutter. Mr. Wonderful said that was super resourceful of me. He’s ususally the creative idea one, not me. Remember, you can also just make a regular pie crust and make a large version and cut pretty wedges.

Now you will need tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. If you’re using the small tarts, choose small tomatoes and bocconcini, or small little balls of mozzerella, usually found in the specialty cheese section of your market. This is a time to get vine-ripened tomatoes, or some really good quality tomatoes, or even some from your backyard! Underripe won’t be as good in these.

You could also use shredded, if you can’t find these, I suppose.

You want to leave a margin of about 1 inch at the edge of your crust circle. Slice about 4 tomatoes and 4 balls of cheese into thin slices and begin making a ring, starting at the outside. Overlap the tomatoes and cheese.

Once your outside ring is finished, work on the center. Make a small ring inside your first ring, just layering both to make it look pretty.

Now begin folding up little pieces of your outside edge. Continue overlapping the last fold that you made. Press firmly, almost pinching the dough so that it sticks.

Continue folding and pressing all the way around the tart. Remember, it’s not a contest for perfection. Rustic I say people, RUSTIC looks awesome!

Take a pastry brush, and brush your tart all over with olive oil.

Now, take a clove of garlic and slice it up in thin slices. Take the pieces and tuck them into various parts of the tomatoes and cheese. I love roasted garlic, so I made sure to get a piece in every bite.

I put my tarts on parchment paper on a baking sheet. Bake them at 350º for 15 minutes, then rotate your pan 180º and bake an additional 15 minutes or until the crust begins to turn a lovely golden color, the cheese is nice and melty and the tomatoes are beginning to soften and carmelize.

At this point, your kitchen will smell so amazing, you won’t want to wait for them to cool off. The smells of roasted garlic , tomato and pie crust should be made as a candle smell. It’s incredible!