Inspired by this tart on the fabulous blog Kayotic Kitchen, I cooked up a little variation on the original last week. And it was a success! It’s almost like a girly version of a pizza–the tomato and thyme and mozzarella on the light and crispy puff pastry were fabulous. In fact . . . am I allowed to include this recipe under my ‘Pizza’ category? What do y’all think? Please tell me ‘yes’ since that would bring me one step closer to accomplishing my summer culinary goals.

I was a little concerned that the leftovers wouldn’t be too good because the puff pastry might get soggy with the tomato juices, but after heating up the remains in the oven 2 days later, it was still pretty dang awesome.

Does it disturb you that I just called leftovers ‘the remains’? Because it’s kind of starting to wig me out.

But anyway! This recipe could easily be individualized by switching out the cheese, adding different veggies (zucchini or asparagus, anyone?), adding some garlic and different herbs, switching out the thyme for basil . . . I’m envisioning ham and asparagus with Gruyère cheese for the next attempt. If only the prices on Gruyère were not so explosively high–here’s to dreaming.

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

2 sheets puff pastry (1 package)
2-3 TBS bread crumbs
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
1 lb Roma tomatoes
6 oz fresh mozzarella, torn (or goat cheese)
2 TBS fresh thyme leaves
Olive oil
Sprinkling of sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

First, thaw them there puff pastry sheets.

Mine needed about half an hour to defrost.

Here are the rest of the ingredients:

Yes, my bottle of Spanish olive oil is about to run out. My parents kept me in full supply for many years . . . but now they live in Wisconsin, and instead I get large cilinders of cheddar cheese. It figures.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Place the two sheets of puff pastry on a baking sheet, overlapping slightly in the middle, and crimp the edges so that they stand up slightly.

Sprinkle the breadcrumbs evenly over the pastry.

Cut the onion in half lengthwise, then slice it into very thin half-moons.

Distribute the onions evenly over the puff pastry.

Tear up the mozzarella and put half of it on top of the layer of onions (we’re saving the other half to top it off after it bakes).

I should mention that the original recipe uses goat cheese. Accordingly, I was going to use the chunk of goat cheese that had been sitting in my fridge for weeks, until my husband did the smell-test . . .

. . . and it failed miserably. Thanks for being the buffer between me and the world of decomposing food, baby. I appreciate it more than you can know.

Cut each tomato into 4 thick slices . . .

. . . and put the tomatoes on the puff pastry in rows, fitting the slices closely together.

Grab the thyme and coax the little leaves off the stems.

Sprinkle half the thyme over the tomatoes along with a generous amount of salt and pepper (the rest of the thyme will be garnish #2). Sprinkle a little sugar on top as well, and finish it off with a little olive oil poured in a very thin stream.

This tart is ready to roll, baby!

Put the tart in the oven and bake it for 30-40 minutes, until the edges of the tart are puffed up and the tomatoes are roasted. Do yourself a favor and pour yourself a nice cuppa while the oven is doing its thang.

When it comes out of the oven, it will look about like this:

Ooooh . . . I’m going into salivary arrest. Yes, that’s a real medical condition.

Let’s get another shot of this gorgeous piece of food:

Finish the tart off by sprinkling the rest of the mozzarella and thyme on top.

Let the man of the household conduct his inspection . . .

. . . and ladies and gentlemen, he approves! Probably because it really does smell like a pizza.

Serve ‘er up!

There’s nothing like herb-covered roasted tomatoes.

There’s nothing like puff pastry fresh outta the oven.

There’s nothing like ooey, gooey mozzarella cheese.

There’s nothing . . . *brain shutting down because all blood is flowing to taste buds instead*

The End.

Click here for printer-friendly version: Tomato Mozzarella Tart