Heirloom Tomato Tart

HeIrLoOm ToMaToEs.  The best tomatoes ever.  Have you ever had them? well, you should.  Go, go now. Go eat some heirlooms.  They are beautiful and absolutely delicious.  I am not sure why they are so much better than regular ole' tomatoes, but they've got me.  I'm intrigued and obsessed.  Never had I ever made a savory tart.  Actually, I have only made one other tart in my life.  So this savory tart.  I had a hard time deciding whether to roast the tomatoes or to leave them raw and juicy.  I decided to go raw with them.  But I figured with tomatoes, basil, olive oil, and parmesan, no matter how you throw all those ingredients together, they will probably taste delicious.  And they did.  Very delicious.  The Parmesan crust was delightful.

 

Oh and the names.

Heirlooms have the craziest names ever.  Things such as Abraham Lincoln, Amish Paste, Arkansas Traveler, Cherokee purple, Brandywine, Green Zebra, Hillbilly, Money Maker, Mr. Stripey (I think this one was named by a 4 year old, for sure), Snow White, and many more absurd names.  I want to name tomatoes.  

Ok so you're probably extremely tired of me rambling about heirloom tomatoes.  So I'll stop. and give you the recipe already.  Just one more picture.

Heirloom Tomato Tart

2-3 large heirlooms (I used 4, and pretty much ate a whole one plus a few extra slices that would not fit on my own)

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/4 in cubes

4-oz chunk of parmesan cheese, grated

2 T ice water

2 T olive oil

1/4 cup basil, julienne

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Slice tomatoes as thick/thin as you'd like, and place them between layered paper towels, sprinkled with salt to soak up the juices so that you don't have a soggy crust later.  Let them sit there while you make the crust.  

For the crust, put flour, butter, and parmesan into a food processor and pulse until you get a sandy-looking texture.  Blend in the 2 T of water.  This should make the dough stick together.  put the dough into a tart pan and press up into the sides.  Put in the fridge and chill for 15 mins.  

After the dough is chilled, poke a few holes in the bottom with a fork.  Cover with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights ( I used dry beans).  Bake for 15 mins.  Remove the pie weights and bake for another 10 mins.  When its golden brown, its done.  Sprinkle the crust with parmesan.  

To assemble:  arrange tomato slices in the crust.  Top with salt, pepper, olive oil and basil.  Serve at room temperature.