Sassy Southern Cooking with a French Twist

tomatoes

Roasted Tomato and Garlic Tart with Fresh Marjoram and Fontina

We’re getting nice and close to the publication launch of Tart Love, so there will just be a few more tart “tempter” recipes on the blog before the book’s actual release on October 1. This delicious and delightfully easy tart makes tasty use of summer’s tomato bounty. Adapted from Tart Love – Sassy, Savory and Sweet (Gibbs Smith, Oct. 1, 2011, by Holly Herrick). Make it in good health and in good times!==========================

Reminiscent of a very elegant and light pizza, this beautiful square tart just dances with flavor. Two-toned tomatoes (I used yellow and red heirloom tomatoes I found at the farmers’ market) are roasted prior to going into the tart to condense their flavor and reduce their juices. This, combined with a protective and flavorful coating of roated garlic paste that forms the first layer of the tart, prevents the pastry from getting soggy. Fat wedges of fragrant, nutty fontina cheese seep Italian goodness into the tomatoes as the tart cooks. A jolt of fresh marjoram and a drizzle of olive oil at the finish, and you’ve got a beautiful dinner for four.

Photo by Helene Dujardin

Roasted Tomato and Garlic Tart with Fresh Marjoram and Fontina

(Serves 4)

Equipment needed: Parchment paper, pastry brush, roasting pan

One 6″ X 6″ square prepared puff pastry (I like Pepperidge Farm)

3 medium-sized fresh heirloom tomatoes – try and find 2 or 3 different colors, trimmed, halved and sliced into 1/8″ thickness

1 whole head garlic

Drizzle best-quality extra virgin olive oil

Drizzle best-quality aged balsamic vinegar

Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Egg wash – 1 egg yolk mixed with a dash of salt and a teaspoon or two of water

1 small onion, peeled and sliced very fine

8 thick, 2″ long slices fontina cheese

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh marjoram (or substitute oregano)

Preheat oven to 400F.  Remove the puff pastry from the freezer and thaw according to manufacturer’s directions. Keeping the colors separate, arrange the tomato slices on a baking sheet in an individual layer. Season generously with salt and freshly ground pepper. Trim the top off the whole head of garlic and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Wrap tightly with aluminum foil and place on an open corner of the baking sheet. Place the tray in the center rack of the oven. Roast the tomatoes until they’ve just shriveled, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely to room temp. Keep the garlic in the oven another 15 minutes, or until it’s softened. Remove the foil and allow the garlic to cool. Drizzle the tomatoes lightly with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. When the garlic’s cool enough to handle, remove the pulp by squeezing the garlic gently, as you would an orange, to extract the flesh from the individual clove casings. Discard the garlic casings and spread the roasted garlic flesh into a paste with the back of your chef’s knife. Cool completely to room temp.

Unfold the thawed, but still cool pastry and arrange on a roasting pan lined with parchment paper. Press gently to form its (already) square shape. Brush the entire square lightly with the egg wash using a pastry brush. Using the same brush, coat the pastry with a layer of garlic paste (you will be using all of it!) leaving a 1″ “naked” border all around the square. Arrange a single layer of the fresh onions and season generously with salt and pepper, following the lines of the bare border. Arrange the tomatoes on top, forming two parallel, vertical lines of two different colored tomatoes. Wedge four slices of fontina cheese evenly between the tomatoes on each of the two lines of tomatoes. Bake until crisp, brown, and bubbly, about 20 minutes. While the tart is still warm, drizzle with the fresh marjoram, salt and freshly ground pepper and a tiny touch of extra virgin olive oil. To serve, cut into four large squares and plate alongside a fresh, green salad. 

 

 

 

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Tomato Time

Many of us wait for it all year, the sweet season of summer when tomatoes are plentiful, plump and delicious. The time is nigh in the Lowcountry. I’ll be the first to concede that nothing tops eating a vine ripe tomato (ideally still warm!) fresh off the vine with a dash of salt and pepper, unless it’s the uniquely Southern decadence of a thinly sliced tomato sandwich on soft white bread with a generous slather or Duke’s mayo and more salt and pepper.

Either way you cut them, tomatoes are heaven, and on top of that, they’re chock full of heart-friendly Lipocene and other good things.  Even though the thermometer is registering some cruel numbers this time of year, I still love the concentration and sweetness that roasting gives tomatoes (and most vegetables for that matter). If you buy smaller tomatoes (in the case of the recipe to follow, baby Heirloom multi-colored tomatoes), they spend less time in the oven which means less heat in the kitchen. Because the tomatoes are roasted in the same pan as the garlic, and both get brushed with the gentle flavor of a rosemary bundle that cooks with them, all the cooking happens in one easy pan. The peppers are roasted separately over an open flame, and it all goes neatly into a blender or food processor. I cook the onions separately in a large sauce pan and add the puree. A bit of vegetable or chicken stock, a few more minutes on the stove, and this soup is ready to rock and roll, tomato style. It can be made a day ahead and re-heated just before serving.

I made this soup/recipe this week for an easy summer dinner party I held for some of my great neighbor friends. It’s spectacular with a drizzle of fresh basil and a few “balls” of tiny pearl mozzarella as a surprise melt at the bottom of the bowl. My neighbor Peter (pictured) loved it and even asked for an entire second bowl!

Get out there and enjoy those tomatoes before it’s too late. Happy cooking!

Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Soup

Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Soup

(Serves Six to Eight)

5 cups (about 3 pounds), baby multi-colored Heirloom tomatoes

5 cloves garlic, skin on, drizzled lightly with olive oil and wrapped with foil

5 stems fresh rosemary wrapped in a bundle with kitchen twine

Olive oil to drizzle

Sea salt or kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

2 red bell peppers, flame broiled over an open flame or under the broiler, skinned, seeded and lightly chopped

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable or chicken stock

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

Generous pinch red chili flakes

Sea salt or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 – 2 tablespoons (local) honey or to taste

Adjust salt and pepper to taste

Garnish: 3 tablespoons fresh basil leaves cut into thin strips, 30 pearl mozzarella balls

Preheat oven to 425F. Rinse the tomoatoes and remove any green tops. Arrange in a single layer on roasting pan with the prepped garlic (in foil)  and the fresh rosemary bundle. Drizzle all of it with best quality extra virgin olive oil, salt and freshly ground pepper. Toss to coat. Place in the center rack of the oven and roast until the tomatoes collapse and the garlic has softened, about 25 minutes, tossing occasionally. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, roast the red peppers over an open flame or broiler until the skin has completely blackened. Set aside to cool slightly. Run under cool water to remove all of the blackened skin, seeds and white flesh. Chop coarsely and add to the roasting pan with the cooling tomatoes. Discard the rosemary bundle and foil. Press the flesh from the roasted garlic cloves and also add to the roasted tomatoes, discarding the garlic skin casings. Pour the entire contents of the pan, including all the lovely tomato juices into the bowl of a food processor or blender, along with the water and the stock. Blend until chunky smooth. Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large sauce pan, heat the 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the finely chopped onion, red chile flakes, and salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions have just softened, about five minutes. Add the pureed tomato mixture and the white wine. Bring up to a low simmer and cook for about five minutes to cook out the acid flavor of the wine. Stir in honey and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for another 10 minutes or so.  (Note: The soup can be made ahead, brought to room temperature, and chilled overnight in a sealed container . Reheat before serving)

To serve, ladle the hot soup into a shallow bowl, with about 5 pearl mozzarella balls on the bottom. Garnish with a flurry of fresh basil. Serve hot!!!!

 

 

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