When making a tomato tart, you will need to decide on a few key aspects of the tart itself before baking. You should consider what type of crust you would like to use, as a pie crust is traditional but you could also use puff pastry and still produce delicious results. The filling of your tomato tart is also worth consideration. Even though tomatoes may be the star, there are plenty of supporting ingredients in this type of tart.
A tomato tart is a traditional French dish that can be quite easy to create as a delicious treat at any meal. The basic construction of the dish consists of a crust that lines the bottom and sides of a pie dish or tart pan, and is filled with tomatoes and other ingredients but is not topped with more dough. You should consider what sort of crust you want to use to construct your tomato tart, as the crust provides the foundation of the tart.
Traditional tomato tart recipes typically use a pâte brisée or pie crust that is light and flaky, yet moist and tender. While you can purchase a premade pie crust and use it to create your tomato tart, you should also consider making your own crust. There are a multitude of recipes available for pie crusts, but you should look for one that uses both butter and shortening since each type of fat provides different elements in a crust. You may also want to look for a crust recipe that uses vodka and water, as vodka reduces the amount of gluten formed in the crust, resulting in a flakier crust.
Some recipes for tomato tart also call for puff pastry, which can be found in the frozen food section of most grocery stores. Unless you have a great deal of training and experience, you should not typically try to make puff pastry yourself as the process is complicated. You can then consider the filling for your tart.
Sliced tomatoes are traditional, and you should ensure the juices from your tomatoes do not make the crust soggy. You can do this by either blind baking the crust before filling it or treating the crust with something such as a layer of shredded cheese or Dijon mustard to prevent absorption of liquid from the tomatoes. The tomatoes can also be salted and left to drain for 10 minutes before used as filling; the salt will pull moisture out of the tomatoes.
You can top your tomato slices with shredded cheese or use slices of cheese arranged on top of the tomato tart. Soft goat cheese is an excellent choice for this type of tart, though fontina or fresh mozzarella can also work quite well. You should then sprinkle the top of the tart with some fresh herbs before baking, such as oregano, basil, or thyme.
