bountiful...Cherry Tomato Tart

It was a day! 80 degrees without a hint of humidity, nothing but blue sky and nothing on the to-do list! Rare day indeed! I so enjoyed working in the gardens and washing the car, taking a short siesta at 3pm and watching the curtains blowing in the breeze.

I do have a vegetable garden even though my brother, Mike, is the owner of Prochaska Farms vegetables. MY tomatoes, basil, fennel, peppers and haricot verts taste better than his. I think it's the "sweat and blood" factor as well as the plucking from the vines. It just doesn't seem as sweet if you haven't invested yourself.

So on the menu is a Cherry Tomato Tart! I have made several tomato tarts in the past and they all seemed a bit too "wet", so we are taking the best from the rest and creating our own! Simple, simple and simple is the word of this recipe. You can use large, heirloom tomatoes as well, but choosing a less juicy tomato is the trick to making these tarts.

Crust:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
7 1/2 Tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
2 1/2 Tablespoons ice water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl combine flour and salt, add butter and combine with a pastry blender until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add ice water and using a fork, stir until dough just begins to come together. Do not over process...this leads to tough dough and applies to all pastry dough. Form dough into a ball and put in fridge for about 30 minutes.

On a floured surface roll out dough until about 2 inches larger than pan. Place dough in pan and press into bottom and edges. Cut excess dough from edge of pan and bake 10-12 minutes until golden brown.

REDUCE OVEN TO 350 DEGREES after baking shell!


Filling:
1 lb. or so of different colored cherry tomatoes cut in half
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons good quality Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon whole-grain Dijon mustard (I used Maille)
6 ounces Fresh Chevre (goat cheese...of course I used Four Corners Creamery!)
1 egg
1 Tablespoon Fresh Basil, chopped
1 Tablespoon Fresh Sage, chopped
1 Tablespoon Fresh Parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
Optional: a few chopped black olives and a Tablespoon of Pine Nuts (toasted)

In a saute pan over medium heat, heat olive oil and cook cherry tomatoes about 2 minutes. Add garlic and sugar, stir to coat evenly and cook an additional 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Mix together egg and goat cheese until smooth and add fresh herbs, season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
Spread mustard on bottom of tart crust and top with cheese mixture. Arrange tomatoes on top and bake for 30 minutes. Garnish with olives and pine nuts before serving. Serve hot or room temperature.

We went all European and served with an incredible pork pate made in Detroit (I'm going to have this at The Boulevard Market before long, as I am officially addicted!) and barely scrambled eggs fresh from the Main Street Farmers Market and ate fresh peaches with juice running down our chins! A beautiful summer meal with the family.