Summer’s Bounty – Tomato Tart

Several years ago, I spent a lot of time watching Martha Stewart’s show on tv and had a subscription to Living that I poured through every month. This was all pre-jail time, not that the jail rigamarole had anything to do with my falling a little bit out of love with Ms. Martha. But, one might find my fascination with all things Martha to be a little bit puzzling. Why? Because 1) I don’t cook and 2) I don’t garden. However, I am crafty and like to decorate and entertain. And to be honest, I can cook and bake, I just rarely am inclined to do so. Luckily I am blessed with a husband who is so inclined. So, occasionally my delusions of grandeur brought on by a Martha moment sometimes end up with me purchasing some beautiful rectangular tart pans from Williams Sonoma with visions of whipping up a masterpiece of tarty goodness. I had seen a tomato tart Martha did some years ago, and since then have wanted to recreate it.

A couple of weekends ago my good friend, Jennifer, came over for dinner. I wanted our dinner to be something summery and light. And I immediately thought of the tomato tart (read: I got a bee in my bonnet to make something). Eric bought some lovely heirloom tomatoes at Central Market that morning for me to use in my tarts. They were so beautiful!

And in case you’d like to make a tomato tart of your own, here’s the Martha recipe (with my changes)…

Tomato Tart

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees

2 pre-made pie crusts (I made them work for the rectangular pans)
Spread roasted garlic evenly over the dough
Place Fontina Cheese over the roasted garlic (I just cut irregular slices of the cheese rather than grating)
Arrange the sliced tomatoes on top of the cheese

Season with salt and pepper
Add more thin slices of Fontina on top
Drizzle with Olive Oil

Transfer to oven
Bake until crust is golden and tomatoes are soft but retain their shape
(about 45 to 55 minutes)
Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes

Serve warm

Mmm…these were so good. And they fit perfectly with our meal. The perfect summertime companion.

And good as leftovers too!