Simple Tomato Tart

Greetings, friends!

There has been a great many items made in the past week, and I would love to share them with you. Some are projects that take 1-2 hours…some are simple tasks that produce a delicious and sumptuous treat in mere minutes. THINK of the time that you waste, slaving over lamb lollipops, when you could be making a rustic and seasonal bite that inspires a summers eve in Tuscany.

Please introduce (or, reacquaint) yourself to frozen puff pastry.

Obviously, there is a multitude of things you could be doing with this product; the most difficult would be making the actual puff pastry itself. The easiest application would be to simply open a box and adorn with delicacies, bake, and serve…which is what I did, errrr.

The reality is this: You could throw a fantastic cocktail party with a couple of these tarts, mixed olives, fine cheesery, and charcuterie. I'm not going to lie, I am pretty fun at parties and if you ever have one, please invite me?

Begin with the following items;

• One sheet frozen puff pastry (thaw out for 30 min on the counter) Do not try to unfold the puff pastry when it's frozen, or it will crack. Unfold when defrosted only
• Assortment of heirloom tomatoes or farmers market/homegrown. Try to get an assortment of colors and shapes from large to cherry tomatoes. Whatever you do..please don't use watery/tasteless/grainy fruits. This tart only has ONE LIFE. Please do not waste it on a dull sad sack of a tomato
• Olive Oil
• Sea Salt and Pepper
• Herbs (I used a basil olive oil to drizzle upon the tart: Basil+ Olive oil mixed in the mini food processor) you may sprinkle on fresh thyme, oregano, or marjoram leaves or chop some basil finely and toss with tomatoes.
• Do not add salt at this point, season only with black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicon mat, and lay the puff pastry down.

Score a 1/2 inch border along the pastry to create a ledge and then use the tines of a fork to prick the inside of the border. Pricking the pastry with a fork will prevent it from puffing up too much.

Lay your tomatoes in a decorative pattern on the pastry, careful not to overlap the fruit, otherwise sogginess will ensue. Some of the larger tomatoes I had were a little hollow, so I layered with another slice. This did not effect the crisp end product.

Drizzle tomatoes with olive oil, herbs, and black pepper. If you are making the basil oil, dollop some on the tomatoes right when you take it out of the oven so the basil stays bright.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until the pastry is golden brown. Finish the dish with a generous dashing of fine sea salt.

I had to make a mini one all for myself.

Party Size!