My sister Betsy just left yesterday after a nice, long visit and while she was here, we did our share of cooking and eating. And cooking. And eating. And eating. The evening before she left, we were trying to figure out how to use a bunch of yellow cherry tomatoes Bets has picked from my garden. They were lusciously ripe and begging to be featured in something special, and after we hemmed and hawed over pasta, frittata, and bruschetta possibilities…we wound up deciding to make a tart.
It would be one of the best decisions either of us has ever made.
Ahh…the bounty! You can not believe the flavor of these babies. Tomato deliciousness through and through.
To start, Bets sliced up some onions. Now, taking pictures of this process was tricky for me for two reasons. First, I’m not used to taking photos of someone else’s hands doing the prep and cooking. I’m used to balancing the camera with one hand while I try to do whatever I’m doing with the other hand, all the while trying not to drop said camera in the food. Second, Bets is left-handed, so all the light angles that work well in my kitchen when I’m cooking don’t work with her because she’s facing away from the light.
But with the help of friends, family, and faith…I persevered.
We wanted to caramelize the onions so they’d add some nice, deep flavor to the tart. So I melted some butter in a skillet…
Threw in the onions, and started cooking them over medium-low heat.
Along the way I added salt…
And pepper…
And let them cook for about 20 to 25 minutes, until they were soft and golden brown.
Is there anything better than caramelized onions? I thinketh not. And it is my contention that they’re so darn good because, well, you can’t rush them. They’ve just gotta take their own sweet time.
Meanwhile, Betsy was scouring the fridge for different cheeses and grating them up.
She wound up with a mix of fontina, Parmesan, and Gruyere…but so many different cheeses would work: Monterey Jack, mozzarella, Swiss, Romano…the list goes on. Basically, you want a nice melted cheese combined with a cheese or two that are a little on the sharp side.
The pie crust was next. For more details on this artisan pastry we created, see the printable recipe below.
(Basically, you can use whatever pie crust recipe your heart tells you to use. Just make sure it’s a generous one! This recipe would be perfect.
We rolled it really thin—as thin as we could get it…
And laid it onto a quarter sheet pan, which is half the size of a half sheet pan. Aren’t you glad you have me here to explain these things to you?
And about the pan: You can go any direction you want! You can use one or two standard pie pans, you can use a tart pan, or you could use a flat cookie sheet and do more of a flat tart with the sides folded up around the edge. Just try to use a pan that is on the short (non-deep) side.
Just spread a layer of the cheese…
All over the base of the crust.
This is what holds everything together!
Then add the caramelized onions…
Until they’re totally covering the cheese.
Then just throw on the tomatoes!
We considered, for one brief moment of insanity, cutting the tomatoes in half. But we really wanted to celebrate the orbicular beauty of the whole ‘maters, and we wound up being so glad we did.
I sure hope orbicular is a word.
One last touch: Egg and milk.
Whisk together.
Brush on the crust.
Then stick the tart into a 450 degree oven, watch it to make sure the crust doesn’t get too brown…
And take it out of the oven when it looks absolutely perfect. Wow!
When you first pull it out of the oven, you’ll see some liquid from the tomatoes…but within a couple of minutes after removing it, the liquid will settle in and become just a beautiful part of the whole picture.
You do want the tart to sit for a few minutes before you serve it, so you have time to grab some basil leaves, cut them into a chiffonade…
And sprinkle it all over the tart.
Absolute glory. It just screams summer.
Cut it into large squares…
And serve it up.
The verdict? This was one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten. The crust was cooked perfectly, the cheese was just the right amount, the caramelized onions sent the flavor through the roof, and the tomatoes were roasted and glorious. Bets and I polished off almost half of it Monday evening, and by noon Tuesday, it was completely gone.
Here’s the handy dandy printable. You’ll love this, my friends!
