Thank the Lord we’ve almost made it through the week again!
Originally Published 07/15/2021
This Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart is the perfect mid-week treat!
I swear this year is going by so fast, but some of the weeks have gone by so slow! There’s a line written by Emily Dickinson where she’s complaining about the chaos of moving and she says, “I am out with lanterns looking for myself.” It keeps echoing through my brain. At random moments just popping up in my mind.
I am out with lanterns looking for myself…
In nine days I will no longer be doing the job I’ve done for the last 5 years, 6 years if you count the year of school! It’s been a huge part of my life. It has kept me busy, kept me sane, kept me insane. I’ve met the best people. I’ve worked beside the best girl! And next Saturday that chapter will close.
I’m out with lanterns looking for myself…
I’m apprehensive. But the most consistent thing in life is change and you never grow or have adventures if you don’t occasionally challenge the norm!
I’m certain that eventually, while I’m out looking for myself, I will come to find I’ve been there all along.
But in the meantime… I’m going to make and eat this Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart because it’s a lot like a fancy pizza and pizza is a comfort food of mine 😉❤️.
So,
every good tart needs a good crust! This is a very simple crust that lets the tart filling shine! Add your flour, salt, and sugar to a bowl and give it a stir. Then add 6 tbsp of salted butter still cold. Use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour until it forms pea-size bits.
I recently learned that this is the ideal size for butter chunks. If the butter chunks are larger, while the dough is baking those large chunks of butter can melt and cause holes. On the flip side, if the butter is cut into the flour too finely and the mixture resembles sand, then the baked crust will be extra fragile and crumbly.
After the butter has been cut in, pour in 5-6 tbsp of ice water and mix just until the dough comes together. If you overwork it, gluten will start to develop and you will have a very, very tough crust! Shape it into a ball, then flatten it into a round disk.
Next, get a sheet of plastic wrap and flour it, placing the disk of dough on the floured wrap. Also, flour the top of the dough and then finish wrapping it up. Stick it in the fridge and let it chill for at least 30 minutes.
Once the tart dough has finished chilling,
it’s time to roll it out and get it in the pan. This is the trickiest part of this recipe. After you get this accomplished, all the hard work is done!
For this Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart, I used a 14″x4.5″ tart pan from Wilton.
Even though it’s non-stick, I still sprayed it lightly with olive oil. Then flour the counter and roll the chilled dough out into a 15″x6″ rectangle. Make sure, as you’re rolling, to keep checking underneath your rectangle of dough. It will absorb the flour you put down and then start sticking to the counter and then you’ll have a mess! Keep flouring underneath it as you go!
Once you’ve got the rectangle big enough, Flour the top of the dough really well and then fold it in half over itself so it will be easier (maybe 😂) to lift into the tart pan.
After it’s in, unfold it and gently squish it around until it fits. You shouldn’t have a lot of excess hanging over the edges, but whatever is, press down on the tart pan to slice it off.
You’ve probably noticed by now that it doesn’t take long for the butter to warm back up and the dough to get sticky! Pop the whole tart pan/crust back in the fridge to re-chill for 15 minutes. This will help the butter actually stay in the crust while it’s baking instead of just leaking right back out of the dough once it hits the heat! Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and find some parchment paper.
Do you own baking beans!?
Haha, and by baking beans, I mean do you keep a large bag of dried pinto beans around just for blind baking crusts?
You could also buy actual pie weights. But my poor man’s pinto beans get the job done!
Line the chilled crust with parchment and then fill it to the top with pinto beans.
Stick it in the oven and blind-bake it for 15 minutes or so. This will prevent the dreaded soggy-bottom crust!
After the crust is finished blind baking, remove it from the oven and let the beans cool before removing them and the parchment paper.
Well, you’ve done it! The bulk of work for this recipe was the crust! Now you’re well on your way to getting to enjoy a slice of this delicious Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart!
On to the filling!
There’s a restaurant down in Nashville called The Pub. This tart is inspired by an appetizer they have on their menu which is quite simply warm marinara with melted goat cheese and toasted pine nuts on top. Then you get slices of French bread to scoop it out with… 🤤 yum.
Simple and amazing!
The cherry tomato bush on my front porch is also profusely producing little cherry bombs from heaven, so I couldn’t resist whipping this up!
Where were we? Oh yes…filling!
The filling for the Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart is simple!
Pour 1 cup of marinara into the bottom of the tart shell and smooth it around.
Secret time – I just used Prego 😣. It’s thick and slightly sweet and tastes good to me 🤷🏼♀️ but use whatever you’d like! (As long as it’s on the thicker side.)
I do also can my own marinara every fall and it’s super delicious, but also on the more watery side. We’re trying to stay clear of soggy bottoms here!
After the marinara,
sprinkle on 4oz of goat cheese, and 3/4 cup of freshly grated parmesan. Next comes the cherry tomatoes! If you’ve got fresh ones from the garden, these will have the best flavor! But, I have also found these cherry bomb ones at some of the stores around here. They’re still on the vine in the package and slightly bigger than the loose cherry tomatoes like cherubs. They are the closest thing to a garden, sun-ripened cherry tomatoes I’ve found.
Top it off with a sprinkle of Italian seasoning and now that I’m writing this, I should have sprinkled pine nuts on there too…🤔 next time!
Place the tart back in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes!
Finally,
once the Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart is finished baking, remove it from the oven and let it cool for 5-10 minutes before you try to get it out of the tart pan.
Not gonna lie, it’s fragile when it’s hot. The crust wants to give out under the weight of the sauce. So have your serving tray ready. Remove the tart pan sides and then run a knife between the crust bottom and pan to separate the two. Then gently slide it off onto the tray! Slice and serve with a good glass of red wine! I wanted to eat the whole thing myself. I managed to save a few slices, which I ate cold, for breakfast the next day! The tart was honestly equally tasty hot as it was cold! The whole thing held together much better the next day after it had chilled. So if you want to transport this to a friend’s house, maybe let it sit overnight in the fridge first. In any case, I hope you give this recipe a shot and enjoy it! Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy the weekend that’s thankfully quickly approaching!
Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart
Equipment
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Medium-size bowl
- Pastry Blender
- 14″ Rectangle Tart Pan
- Rolling Pin
- Parchment Paper
- Pie Weights / Dry Pinto Beans
- Cutting Board & Knife
- Cheese Grater
Ingredients
Tart Dough
- 1 Cup All-Purpose Flour 130 grams
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Sugar
- 6 tbsp Butter 83 grams cold and cut into chunks
- 5-6 tbsp Cold Water 83 grams
Tart Filling
- 1 Cup Marinara
- 4 oz Goat Cheese Crumbles
- 3/4 Cup Grated Parmesan
- 1 Cup Cherry Tomatoes
- 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
Instructions
Tart Dough
- In a medium-size bowl, combine 1 cup flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp sugar. Cut the 6 tbsp of cold, salted butter into chunks and add them to the bowl. Use a pastry blender to blend the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse crumbs the size of peas. Finally, add in 5-6 tbsp of cold water, just enough to bring the dough together, but not too much that it makes it sticky. Don’t overwork the dough. As soon as it forms a cohesive ball, sprinkle flour on a piece of plastic wrap, place the dough on it and flatten it out into a disk, then sprinkle the top of the dough with flour and wrap it up. Place the dough in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.
- After the dough has chilled, place it on a floured countertop, also flour the top of the dough and the rolling pin. Roll the dough out into a 15″x6″ rectangle. Continue flouring the counter underneath the dough as you roll to prevent sticking. Once it’s been rolled into a rectangle, generously flour half of the dough. Carefully fold the dough back over itself from long end to long end. Place the lightly oiled tin right next to the dough, gently lift it into the tin and unfold it. Fit the dough into the tart tin. There shouldn’t be a lot of extra dough hanging over the sides, but once it’s positioned press down on top of the sides of the tart tin to remove the excess.
- Place the tart pan with the dough back in the fridge to chill again for another 15 minutes. While it’s chilling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- After 15 minutes, remove the tart pan from the fridge, and place it on a baking sheet. (This will make it easier to transfer to the oven and catch any butter that may melt out of the crust.) Lay a piece of parchment paper over the dough and fill it with pie weights or dried pinto beans. Place the baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven and blind bake the tart dough at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
- Once the tart crust has finished baking, remove it from the oven and fill it!
Tart Filling
- Begin by pouring 1 cup of marinara into the bottom of the tart crust, and smooth it evenly around. Next, top the marinara with goat cheese crumbles followed by freshly grated parmesan. After this place your cherry tomatoes across the top and finish by sprinkling Italian season evenly over everything.
- Place in the oven on the middle rack again and bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes. The crust edges should be a nice golden brown, the cherry tomatoes should have burst open a little and the cheese should also be golden brown when the tart is ready to come out of the oven!
- Once the tart is finished baking, remove it from the oven and place the tart tin on a cooling rack. Let the tart cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes before attempting to remove it. Once the tin is cool enough to handle, remove the sides and carefully slide the bottom off slipping the tart onto a serving tray.
- Slice and enjoy! This tart is amazing warm, but I also ate the leftovers cold and it was equally delicious!
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