Easy Tomato Tart

Yum
All you need is 10 minutes to spare, and you too can prepare this gorgeous dish!

You likely have all the ingredients you need already in your fridge which can make this a quick dish easily thrown together. I like to keep a roll of puff pastry in my freezer just for occasions like this. However, I suppose you could use a number of other options as a base for this tart- pizza dough or a pie shell rolled out (although it would be a more crunchy/hard version).

This version was inspired by the Food Network's recent recipe Tomato, bacon & Gruyere tart. However, there are tons of variations you can find, such as puff pastry  heirloom tomato tart.

Ingredients

1 sheet of puff pastry, defrosted

1.5 oz Gruyere, shredded (I used a micro-plane to get a small, fine grate)

3 oz blue cheese (I used Benedictine, a creamy, mild blue), crumbled

4 Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced

2 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped (throw the slices into a microwave between a few layers of paper towel. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until somewhat crispy). 

1 egg

Dressing for tomatoes

1 tbsp olive oil

Pinch of salt and pepper

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp dry basil

2 large cloves of garlic, chopped

1. Preheat the oven on at 350oF.

2. Mix up all the ingredients for the tomato dressing in a large bowl. Add the sliced tomatoes and toss to coat. 

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the tossed tomatoes on the baking paper. Spread them out to make one layer of tomatoes and bake for 30 minutes. This step dries out the tomatoes a bit and allows them to get a bit sweeter. You could leave out this step if you prefer fresh tomatoes or don't have the time. Once done cooking the tomatoes, turn the oven up to 400oF. 

3. Roll out the defrosted puff pastry slightly on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper. 

4. Top with both cheeses, bacon and tomatoes. If you want to make the dish look a bit fancy, you can leave a 2 inch border on the long sides of the pastry. If you are aiming to feed more people, feel free to put the food to the edge of the pastry. 

5. If you've left a border around the pastry, fold it over the food and cut vents in the pastry. Pinch to seal. Beat the egg with 1 tsp of water then brush this over pastry. 

6. If you have already dried out the tomatoes, bake for about 20 min. If not, you may want to cook it for slightly longer, around 30min. The dish is ready with the crush is a nice golden brown. 

Note: you can use any cheese you like. I happen to have small bits of blue and gruyere leftover (lucky me!). I think an aged cheddar or even fresh mozzarella would be a great option too. 

I like to use recipes as inspiration or as jumping off points for my own version (usually to accommodate what I have already in the fridge). I'd love to hear what you have to say!

Does this recipe inspire YOU? 

what would you add or change about it?