July 9, 2009 | Tarts

I know I’m jumping the gun a bit by offering up all of these delicious recipes using fresh vine-ripened tomatoes, but they’ll be here before you know it, I promise. As soon as I get my first tomato from my CSA farm I’ll do a post with links to all of the best fresh tomato recipes.
This tart falls into that category – I developed the recipe for an article on the Gaiam website last year about using heirloom tomatoes. You can use pretty much any tomato variety you like – just make sure they are super ripe and sweet as they are the star of the recipe.

The tart crust is made using pine nuts which provide a rich nutty flavor as well as improving the texture. If you’re not a fan of pine nuts (I always think everyone adores them like I do), just use a traditional flaky crust. And if you don’t care for goat cheese, I’m pretty sure it will work fine to use only cream cheese, but I haven’t tested it that way – if you try that let me know how it turns out!

Heirloom Tomato Goat Cheese Tart
Serves 6

1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
8 tablespoons butter, very cold, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons water, or more if needed
8 ounces goat cheese, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1 1/2 pounds tomatoes, heirloom variety if available
basil oil
sea salt

Combine flour and pine nuts in a food processor and process until well mixed. Add butter and pulse several times just until mealy and butter has formed small pea size lumps. Add water, a little at a time, pulsing until enough water has been added to allow the dough to form a ball. Do not over mix. Remove dough (dough will be soft) and using a floured surface shape dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for one hour. Preheat oven to 350°. Remove dough from refrigerator and roll into a disk large enough to fill an 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Trim excess dough from edges and dock crust with a fork. Line tart crust with parchment paper and pie weights (or dry rice or beans), and then bake for 15 minutes. Remove paper and bake an additional 10 minutes; remove from oven and let cool slightly. If you used rice or beans, discard. Combine goat cheese, cream cheese, basil, eggs, salt and pepper in a food processor and process until smooth. Pour into tart shell and bake until set, about 15 minutes. While tart is cooking, lay tomato slices on paper towels to remove some of the moisture, replacing towels as needed. Remove tart from oven and let cool slightly, then top with tomatoes in an overlapping fashion. To serve, garnish tart slices with a drizzle of basil oil and a sprinkle of sea salt.