After a long summer week-end, a grape tomato and blue cheese tart sounds like perfect dish for Sunday brunch.
It is excerpted from Sunday Brunch, Simple, Delicious Recipes for Leisurely Mornings by Betty Rosbottom, photographs by Susie Cushner, Chronicle Books, May 2012
Grape Tomato and Blue Cheese Tart
With its flaky crust and delectable topping of sweet grape tomatoes and creamy blue cheese, this tart makes an enticing vegetarian dish for brunch. The exceptionally crispy pastry shell is prepared with cream cheese and seasoned generously with cayenne pepper. The tart can be baked several hours ahead, left at room temperature, and then quickly reheated.
Serves 6
Prep time:
20 minutes
Start-to-finish time:
1 hour, 30 minutes
Make Ahead:
Yes
Crust
1 cup/115 g all-purpose flour
4 oz/115 g cream cheese, chilled and cut into ½-in/12-mm pieces
8 tbsp/115 g unsalted butter, chilled and cut into ½-in/12-mm pieces
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
Topping
4 oz/115 g creamy blue cheese (such as Bleu d’Auvergne), finely crumbled
2 cups/298 g grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise (see market note)
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
Kosher salt
1½ tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 green onions, chopped to include 2 in/5 cm of the green parts
Market Note:
Small grape tomatoes, which have a sweet flavor, work better than larger cherry tomatoes in this
recipe, and can be used year-round. However, in the summer feel free to try the tart with one of
your favorite varieties. Sweet ones that are on the small side work best.
1. Arrange a rack at center position and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F/190 degrees C/gas 5.
Have ready a 9-in/ 23-cm tart pan with a removable bottom.
2. For the crust: Place the flour, cream cheese, butter, salt, and cayenne in a food processor; pulse
until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Remove and knead the mixture into a smooth mass, and
then press it with your fingers an even layer into the bottom (not up the sides) of the tart pan.
Smooth the dough with the back of a spoon. Freeze the tart shell for 15 minutes to firm, and then
bake the crust until golden brown, 30 minutes. Remove the tart shell from the oven and cool for
about 5 minutes but retain oven temperature.
3. For the topping: Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the crust. Arrange the tomatoes in a circular
pattern and in a single layer over the cheese, cut-sides up. You may not need to use all of the
tomatoes. Whisk together the olive oil and vinegar and drizzle over the tomatoes, and then
sprinkle with salt. Place the tart on a baking sheet to catch any drippings and return to the oven
and bake until the cheese has melted the tomatoes are hot, 10 to 12 minutes.
4. Cool the tart for 5 to 10 minutes and then remove the sides of the tart pan. (The tart can be
made 3 hours ahead. Leave the tart at cool room temperature and reheat in preheated 350-degree-
F/180-degree-C/gas-4 oven until warmed through, 8 to 10 minutes.)
5. Mix together the parsley and green onions, and sprinkle over the tart. Cut the tart into six
wedges and serve.
Finish the meal with fresh berries (blueberries) and homemade whipped cream.
(* Recipe from Sunday Brunch, Simple, Delicious Recipes for Leisurely Mornings By Betty Rosbottom Photographs by Susie Cushner, Chronicle Books, May 2012, reproduced with permission of publisher)
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