Tag Archives: easy

Tomato Mozzarella Tart

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.

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Diane's Girls' Night Pasta

This summer our church is having a Bible study for women every Tuesday night. We’re going through a fantastic series by Beth Moore called ‘Breaking Free,’ and (with the extra perk of dinner involved) it’s a lovely way to spend the evening. If you’re a female Christian, chances are you may have encountered Beth Moore–she’s a very blond and very Southern preach-it type of gal who does video devotional series with an accompanying booklet. For us more reserved Chicagoans, her intense style can feel a little . . . abrasive. “Lemme tell you, girlfriend!” she shouts, her eyes the size of dinner plates, her hair sprayed into a veritable tower of blondness. “I don’t know ’bout you, but I need me some freedom!”

It took about 2 sessions for me to get used to her. And now–I’m loving it! She is sincere, she is gospel-preachin,’ and she doesn’t mince her words. She’s direct and honest and I am enjoying this study to the max, poofy hair included.

But anyway, we’re getting distracted from the food part of this post. The first night we met for this summer study, Diane (one of the leaders) made this great pasta dish. “How do you make this??” I cried. And as soon as dinner was over, she had printed the recipe for me. Thank you, Diane. It’s simple, it’s wonderful, it’s girly.

Word of caution: the chicken and the pesto are center-stage flavors here, so get a gooood chicken and get some gooood pesto. Diane explained that the Costco roasted chicken is the most succulent store-bought chicken she’s come across, and it makes a big difference in the final dish. And lo and behold, Diane’s pasta was waaay better than mine, so if you have access to a Costco by all means take her advice.

Ingredients

1 roasted chicken, picked
16 oz rotini pasta
2 oz pine nuts, toasted
1 cup diced sundried tomatoes (8.5 oz)
3/4-1 cup pesto (6.25 oz)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, to serve

There’s the assembly–minus the pine nuts. Pretend there’s a little jar of pine nuts.

Start off by boiling some pasta water (salted!).

Now it’s time to get your hands dirty and pick that chicken. I have no pictures to present because I had picked it the night before. You can go the storebought route, or you could easily roast up a chicken of your own in a little over half an hour using this method.

I chopped up the chicken with a handy pair of kitchen scissors:

Now grab yon sundried tomatoes . . .

. . . and give them a good dice.

This didn’t take me long since I bought the julienned kind.

Now it’s time to lightly toast the pine nuts in a skillet. They burn easily, so move them about and give them your undivided attention.

*visualize a skillet of pine nuts gently toasting over a low flame*

Why didn’t I take a picture, you ask? Well . . . um . . . see . . . every now and then this side of me pops out that I like to call ‘The Cheapskate Jenna’ (or is it ‘cheapscape’? I never did figure that out).

See, I couldn’t bring myself to spend $6 on what seemed to be the world’s tiniest jar of pine nuts. But as long as the $6 doesn’t phase you all, they truly are delicious in this dish. Like, the dish really isn’t the same without them. Yep, this is one of those ‘don’t do what I do–do what I say’ situations. Unless you have a Cheapskate alter-ego that will also emerge and take the reigns of your being right before you get in line to check out, consuming you with guilt until you put that dang jar of pine nuts back on the shelf.

Grate the Parmesan nice and fine:

When the pasta is almost al dente, set aside 1 cup of pasta water (just dip a glass cup measure straight into the pot) . . .

. . . and drain the pasta. Immediately return the pasta to the pot and stir in the tomatoes and chicken . . .

. . . and the pesto and pine nuts.

Cook it all over low heat for a couple minutes, stirring until it’s evenly mixed and the pasta is al dente.

Stir in extra pasta water as needed–if it’s looking/tasting dry, add splashes of water until the consistency is to your taste. I forgot to reserve the pasta water and my end result was a little dry. Wow–no pine nuts, no pasta water . . . I was really slacking off when I made this.

Oh well! It’s all part of my Recovering Perfectionist Therapy Regime, so I hereby forgive myself.

Serve with plenty of Parmesan sprinkled on top!

It’s tasty and easy and an overall great weeknight meal.

Plus, even though ‘girls’ night’ is in the title of it, my husband said that it hit the spot in his man-stomach.

Thanks again Diane for sharing your great recipe!

Click here for printer-friendly version: Diane’s Girls’ Night Pasta