Tomato Tart with Garlic Basil Crust

When I'm looking at recipes that are being prepared by the food bloggers I follow, sometimes I see trends. It seems like a lot of them have been making tarts lately, and I've never even considered doing one of my own. I'd always thought they sounded hard to do, I guess. But thanks to my favorite kitchen appliance, the food processor, the dough is a cinch to make! So I went to the awesome restaurant supply store here in town, Smalley Equipment Company, and bought a 9.5 inch tart pan 'cause I knew I had to make this tomato and basil tart right away! It turned out so delicious, Brent declared it the best thing I've ever made! I can't wait for my basil plants to recover from the harvesting I did for this recipe and the fresh pesto I made so I can make it again (this time I can guarantee Brent and I won't be sharing it with anyone!).

Fresh Tomato Tart with Basil Garlic Crust
Source: Ezra Pound Cake

Ingredients:

1 recipe Basil Garlic Tart Dough (see below)
8 ounces fresh sliced mozzarella
2 large, ripe tomatoes, sliced thinly
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil for drizzling

Preheat oven to 375°

Prepare the dough, and press it into the bottom of a ten inch tart pan, trimming the edges to fit.

Line the bottom of the tart shell with the mozzarella slices. Arrange the tomato slices over the cheese. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes, until crust is golden brown and the cheese is beginning to brown. Allow to cool on a rack for at least five minutes before slicing. (I baked mine a little too long, I had a baby that needing caring for about the time the timer went off)

Basil Garlic Tart Dough

1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, packed
1 medium garlic clove
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt
8 T unsalted butter, chilled and cut into ten pieces
4-5 T ice water

Put the basil and garlic into the bowl of a food processor. Process, scraping down the sides if necessary, until finely chopped. Add the salt and flour, pulse to combine.

Add the butter pieces. Pulse about ten times, or until the mixture resembles pea-sized crumbs. (thank goodness I'd seen Ina Garten doing this on the Food Channel so I knew what they are talking about)

One tablespoon at a time, add the water, pulsing several times after each addition. After 4 tablespoons have been added, process the dough for several seconds to see if a ball forms. If not, add the last tablespoon of water. Process until a ball forms and remove the dough from the food processor.

Form the ball into a five inch disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least an hour.

Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12 inch circle. Lay the dough over the tart pan and press it into the bottom. Trim to fit edges.

As you can see below, the humans weren't the only ones intrigued by the delicious smelling tart. My sous chef Sadi thought it smelled pretty good too!