Joy the Baker

Heirloom Tomato Tart

by 115 Comments

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You guys, I’m in deep.  I’m in the middle of some pretty serious Instagram stalking.  I’ve gone down the rabbit hole.

I’ve followed a comment on my friend Whitney’s feed and now I’m well into some stranger’s Instagram wedding album, some weird dude’s pet snake, and did you know there’s a whole Ryan Gosling thing going on on Instagram?  Of course there is.  Also, there are just so many selfies of strangers I have to marvel at!  Gosh.  I’m in it.

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It’s usually when I’m in deep that I start to think about the other side of the coin:  someone losing themselves in my Instagram feed.  What would they think?  Geez, this girl eats a lot of food.  Geez, this girl likes to stack food and take pictures of it.  How many pictures of a desk can one person take?  A lot.  Ok… she has a cat.  And cocktails.  And she likes cookies.  And she’s been to New Orleans.

That’s about the long and short of it.

Whatever we do, let’s not think about the former bosses, and ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriends that are probably scrolling through our feeds.  Actually… maybe we do want to think about them, and hope they’re hungry when they run across this picture of our Heirloom Tomato Tart.

We’re here to inspire, right?  …and occasionally flaunt our flakey crust and lip gloss.

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I like a cacophony of ingredients. Savory this time! Tomatoes of two kinds, fresh basil and thyme, fresh goat cheese, and the makings of a simple sundried tomato spread.

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This Sundried Tomato Pesto is really the secret sauce of this tart.

We combine sundried tomatoes, garlic, a chili pepper, salt, and sugar and make an intense tomato spread.  It’s seriously delicious!  This recipe makes enough for two tarts.  If you just make one tart, then you’ll have enough spread for tomorrow’s breakfast toast.

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We’re building these gorgeous tomato flavors atop a chilled piece of puff pastry.  Flakes for days, friends.  Flakes for days.

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Spread is spread.

I like to the drain the sliced tomatoes by placing them on a paper towel.  I also like to remove some of the seeds from the sliced cherry tomatoes.  This helps the tomato stay crisp with no chance of sog.

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Sundried spread, fresh basil, and fresh goat cheese.  Layered.

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Tomato time!  Thyme time!  Salt and pepper for good measure.

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After some oven-time, this tart is flakey, golden brown, and summer-lush.  We’re talking crisp, flavorful, herby, tomato YESSS!  So good and so easy to make pretty!  The tomatoes do all the work.  Win!

Heirloom Tomato Tart

makes 1 9×9-inch tart

adapted slightly from The Guardian

Print this Recipe!

For the Sundried Tomato Pesto Sauce:

(This will actually make enough sauce for two tarts.  Either double the Tart ingredients below, or reserve the extra sauce for topping on toast, eggs, or pasta.  It’s delicious.)

1-8 ounce jar sundried tomatoes, some of the oil reserved

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1 small red chili, seeds remove and coarsely chopped

big pinch of granulated sugar

1 scant teaspoon salt

3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil from the sundried tomato jar

For the Tart:

1 9×9-inch sheet all-butter puff pastry, thawed but still cold

small handful fresh basil leaves

4 ounces goat cheese

3 small heirloom tomatoes, sliced about 1/4-inch thick and drained on paper towels

handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half and seeds removed

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

olive oil

To make the Sundried Tomato Pesto Sauce, combine sundried tomatoes, garlic cloves, chopped chili, sugar, salt, and oil in the bowl of a food processor.  Blend until combined, but still slightly coarse.  The mixture does not need to be completely smooth.  Taste and season as needed.

Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Unfold a chilled sheet of puff pastry.  Roll lightly with a rolling pin just to flatten completely.  Place on the prepared baking sheet and spread about half of the pesto sauce over the puff pastry, leaving about a 1/2-inch border around the edges.  Coarsely tear basil leaves over the sauce.  Crumble goat cheese over the sauce.  Arrange heirloom tomatoes in a single layer over the goat cheese and press down slightly.  Try to cover as much of the sauce as possible as it can burn in the oven if exposed.  Add a few cherry tomato halves.  Sprinkle generously with fresh thyme and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until puffed and golden brown.  Remove from the oven and allow to rest for at lease 10 minutes before serving.  

source:  The Guardian

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kelsi

    Made this for dinner tonight. It’s just as delicious as it looks. My roommate is not a tomato fan and she gobbled up half the tart.

    Reply

  2. Jennifer

    I made this tart three times and each time it was a flavourful tart but really soggy! What am I doing wrong? Does the puff pastry need to be thicker maybe? How thick should it be? I drained the tomatoes. Even removed the pulp in the tomatoes in case that was it. Anyway, I would like to make it again as my garden tomatoes are so wonderful right now I want to showcase them… Any insight would be great.

    Reply

  3. robyn

    hi!

    could you prepare this ahead of time and have it waiting in the fridge until guests arrive, or would it not “puff” properly?

    Reply

  4. Liz S

    Our beautiful bounty of tomatoes up in the San Juan islands left me wondering what to do with all the tomatoes. I made the tart last ginger and it was delicious. Had a Manhattan while the tart was baking. Thank you for this great recipe!

    Reply

  5. Taylor

    Just gave this a try. It was too pretty and simple to resist! I found the pesto a tiny bit monotone, but some lemon juice and chili powder gave it some life. It tasted amazing fresh out of the oven. My only issue is how soggy and tasteless the puff pastry remains underneath the toppings, especially after sitting for a few minutes. Any way to keep that 80% of the crust “crusty”?

    Reply

  6. yellow251

    I tried the recipe today and the flavor was there but it came out a soggy mess :(
    Next time, I’m going to slow roast the heirlooms & blind bake the pasty to see if that helps.

    Reply

  9. Jade

    Yum! I made something similar based on this tart. I used basil pesto instead of sundried tomato, and made my own quick puff pastry. It was so easy, flaky and delicious! Thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply

  12. shelly@ohshellsbells

    I made this last night (minus the chile in the pesto because i didnt have one and subbed dry basil for fresh) It was divine. My boyfriend said it was fancy-restaurant-quality good. And I got to use my heirloom tomatoes from my CSA. All around success!

    Reply

  14. Tasha@Tashasdish

    Instagram is totally my favorite, someone looking at my pictures would see food, leaves, and beaches (not in that order). This tart is absolutely beautiful. I’ve always been weirdly intimidated by puff pastry, but I think I am going to overcome it and try this tart out. How do you think it would work with other summer veggies say, like, squash?

    Reply

  15. Alison

    Just made this–all seemed to be going well–followed directions to a T and got the really expensive Dufour pastry—-But the dough did not rise at all in the middle! I even kept it in at 400 for an extra 10-15 minutes. Any thoughts about what went wrong? It was literally like raw puff pastry everywhere but the edges:(

    Reply

    • joythebaker

      the puff pastry tends to rise everywhere that is not weighed down by ingredients. that’s fine and normal. but i’m really not sure how the pastry could be raw after so much time in the oven. i don’t know.

      Reply

  16. Emily Fireman

    I made this for my mom (a very picky customer) and my fourteen-month old son (a surprisingly less picky customer) for a summer lunch today. It was a HUGE hit all around. Paired with a spinach, arugala and strawberry salad dressed with the dressing from your Thai watermelon salad. Thanks for the recipe(s)!!

    Reply

  18. Jamie@Milk N Cookies

    This looks wonderful! We have an abundance of tomatoes right now from our CSA and this would be a great way to use them. I love that this tart has multiple layers of tomato in in, from the spread to the two kinds of tomatoes. It seems like it would have a deep tomato flavor — yum!

    Reply

  19. YouveGotMeal

    :) I smiled all the way through your Instagram thoughts. I love the addition of sundried tomatoes to the tart. I add it too or, if I don’t have the time, I just use the oil from the can/jar spread on the puff pastry for a special flavor.

    Reply

  21. Whitney

    This looks delicious! I just had a dinner party last night and made a Tomato Pie from a recipe in Garden&Gun. I am going to have to try this next.

    Reply

  24. Stuart

    That looks delicious. This is one of my missus’ favourite quick dinners. Always nice to get some fresh ideas to liven up a family favourite. Thanks very much.

    Reply

  29. Kato

    so this tart was exactly what I wanted to eat yesterday! Made it and it was every bite as delicious as it looks in your photos. Went a little creative on the pesto, and maybe I will not bake the goat’s cheese next time but let it melt instead on top of the tart when it’s just out of the oven. Will definitly be a next time though!

    Reply

  30. Jessica

    Hello Joy! Although this is my first time saying so, I’ve been a big fan of your blog and have been making your recipes for over two years now! Some I’ve had more success with than others (my husband is constantly making fun about how your recipes bring out the best and worst in my cooking/baking abilities…).
    Anyhow… just dropping in to say that this looks AMA-ZING and I just so happen to have all the ingredients in my home already! Sweet! … err… I mean savory! :) I can’t wait to try it!

    Reply

  31. Lauren Michelle

    O man. I’ve been trying to adjust myself to tomatoes and this may be the way to go about it. For whatever reason I have disliked tomato texture from the get-go. But, I have loved everything made with tomatoes (like sauces and things where you don’t actually get the texture, just the flavor). I’m trying to make tomatoes my friends.

    Reply

  41. lyndsay // coco cake land

    bazonk! tomato explosion… love it! love the sound of the pesto especially. and the whole puff pastry thing, which i can just buy. i forget i don’t have to make everything from darn scratch!!

    um, the instagram rabbit hole you described … i know it well! i call it the link labyrinth… it’s gobbled up whole hours of my life and i shake my head, bleary eyed, and go whu WHUT just happened!

    i’m your new follower on instaG! yay!

    Reply

  45. heather @ chiknpastry

    man i could eat the MESS outta that tart. i was hoping you’d say that was puff pastry otherwise i’d be mad jealous of your dough skillz ;). but still jealous that you have a tomato tart at home and i just have thawed pie crust, chanterelles, and cheese for mine this week. i guess that’s not bad though!

    Reply

  52. Gerry @ Foodness Gracious

    Ya gotta love Instagram, it’s amazing how many pics I have on mine and never really realized how obsessed I am now too. I’ve even gotten over people giving me the “what the hell is that person doing taking a picture of that gas station sign/plant/cup of coffee/awesome shaped crack in the road” stare. I say pssht to them.

    Reply

  58. Abby @ The Frosted Vegan

    Gurrrl we’ve all been down that rabbit hole, it’s a dangerous spiral of “ohh let me look at the food they’ve been eating/vacations been taking/what the heck am I doing on this friend of friend of cousin of this person??”

    Reply

  69. sour salt

    The tartness can also be increased by adding sour salt aka citric acid, which will revamp the taste. lemon juice will just interfere with the tomatoes, while sour salt will add flavor and deliciousness in the recipe.

    Reply

  70. Amy

    Oh I can’t wait until summer Down Under again! I know exactly where my first crop of cherry tomatoes will meet their fate :)
    Might have to make the tomato pesto for winter-morning breakfasts though…

    Reply

  72. Ellen

    I fear I’d devolve into consuming that pesto the same way I do a good marinara or salsa: out of a bowl with a spoon.
    That’s how I roll with peanut butter too.
    But this tart looks ahhhhmazing.

    Reply

  73. Margherita

    Hahahaha Joy, last month I was deep down in Instagram as well. I managed to crawl myself out of it though. I still have withdrawals now and then but I’m safe now. :)

    Gorgeous tart btw

    Reply

  74. Sophie @ The Spotty Teapot

    I have never been this excited about one of your posts before, because for the first time, I already have most of the ingredients needed to make this! All I need is the pastry!
    This tart looks delicious, and I can’t wait to make it!!!
    X

    Reply

  76. Miss Kim @ behgopa

    This looks so delish! I love heirloom tomatoes. Sooo yum!! I’ve only made tomato tarts with regular tomatoes, but have never tried cooking heirlooms. Does it lose/change the flavor much? . I haven’t really gotten into utilizing Instagram much to its full features. But I love your pics. I’m totally following you on Instagram now!

    Reply

  77. Averie @ Averie Cooks

    I rarely instagram anymore. Just post a couple pics a month b/c it IS such a rabbit hole. I just get sucked in and all of a sudden I look up and it’s been 45 mins and Ive done nothing. Other than clicking around on my iphone. So I try to just stay off IG. But I love it.

    This tart is gorgeous. It reminds me of the cover of Martha Stewart Living this month!

    Reply

  79. Belinda @themoonblushbaker

    Actually what my friends say when They see my blog. “where does all that food go???” thankfully I still fit into my pants….
    Such a pretty tart! Too bad I have to wait for tomatoes to come in season here but till then I droll over these photos. I will be dreaming
    of the wonderfully taste from the goat cheese and puff pastry.

    Reply

  82. Jennie

    Oh my lord. The tomatoes, the pasty, the cheese, the all round flakey goodness. I think you may just have created my perfect meal! No shame is zealous Instagram stalking and wandering, your feed is beautiful and makes me hungry more often than I’d care to admit! X

    Reply

Trackbacks

  4. […] Heirloom Tomato Tart (Joy the Baker)– This dish incorporates both fresh tomatoes and sundried tomato pesto.  Together with goat cheese and fresh herbs, the flavors are wonderful.  This could be easily served as an appetizer or paired with a green salad for a summer lunch or dinner. […]

    Reply

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