Triple Cheese & Tomato Tart
Triple Cheese & Tomato Tart celebrates summer at it's peak. Thyme infused pastry filled with Boursin, goat, and ricotta cheeses, topped with tomatoes and basil.
Servings: 8
Equipment
- dried beans or pie weights see notes
- tart or quiche pan
- food processor or a hand pastry blender
Ingredients
For the thyme infused pastry:
- 170 grams all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar I prefer turbinado
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 113 grams salted butter in small cubes, very cold.
- 3 tablespoons ice water
For the filling:
- ½ cup ricotta cheese drained of excess liquid
- 5 oz goat cheese
- 5.3 oz Boursin cheese garlic and herb flavored
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 14-16 leaves fresh basil finely chopped
- 3 large tomatoes thinly sliced, see note
- Kosher salt for sprinkling on top of the tomato slices
- 2 tablespoons grainy Dijon mustard
- olive oil for brushing
- basil leaves thinly sliced, for topping
Instructions
For the pastry:
- In the bowl of a food processor, blitz the flour, sugar, and died thyme until combined.
- Add the cold, cubed butter. Blitz a few, short whirls (a second each) so the butter has a chance to slightly incorporate with the flour.
- Add the water and blitz the dough with two or three, short whirls. The dough should be crumbly but beginning to bind together. The dough shouldn't be dry or look floury. It's ok if there are some larger bits of butter.
- Quickly tip the dough out of the processor onto your work surface. Use your hands to finish forming the dough into a flat disk.
- Tightly wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour or until pastry is very firm. The dough can keep in the fridge for 2 days or in the freezer up to 2 months.
- Preheat your oven to 375 °F
- Butter/spray a 9-10 inch round tart or quiche pan.
- Lightly flour your counter. Unwrap the pastry dough, place it on the floured counter and lightly dust flour over it. Let the dough rest for a few minutes until ever so slightly pliable but still very cold and rather firm.
- Roll your pastry crust out so you have enough to fit your pan and for the dough to go up the sides of the pan. Be patient with your dough. Make sure it's rolled out in even thickness.
- Carefully transfer the dough into pan. (You can do this by flouring your rolling pin, set it on top of the dough (in the center) and flip the dough over it. Use the rolling pin to lift the dough.)
- Carefully fit the dough into the pan, gently pressing the dough into the crevasses. If the dough rips, patch it back together with some excess dough from the outer edges. No fear!
- Using a sharp pairing knife, trim off the remaining dough from the top of the pan, form the excess dough into a disk, wrap it back in plastic wrap and place in the freezer (you may need it later).
- Place the pan into the freezer and freeze for about 10-15 minutes until pastry is very cold and firm. At this point, you can leave the pastry in the tart pan in the freezer until you want to use it; be it hours, or days from now.
- Cut a piece of parchment paper that will fully cover your pan. Crumple it into a tight ball then flatten it back out (this makes it pliable to fit all the crevices.) Remove the pan from the freezer, place the parchment over it, and fill the parchment with dried beans or pie weights (see notes). Make sure the entire filling section of the pan is evenly weighted down.
- Place the pan on a cookie sheet then place it into the oven to bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven, remove the parchment with the beans and set them aside. Prick the bottom of the pastry with a fork all around and place it back in the oven for another 5 minutes until the bottom of the pastry is firm.
For the filling: while the pastry crust is blind baking....
- (If using cherry tomatoes, see notes) If using large tomatoes, slice them very thinly. Spread the tomatoes in a single layer over paper towels or a cotton kitchen cloth. Lightly sprinkle the tomatoes with kosher salt and let them rest for 20-30 minutes. Then, using a cloth or paper towels, pat the tomatoes thoroughly dry. (You want to remove as much moisture as possible to avoid a soggy tart.)
- While the tomatoes are shvitzing...so to speak....In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the ricotta, goat, and Boursin cheeses. Add the dried thyme and basil leaves and mix well until completely combined. Set aside.
To assemble & bake the tart:
- Spread the mustard over the pastry crust in an even layer.
- Spread the cheese filling over the mustard in an even layer.
- Shingle the tomatoes over the cheese in an even layer.
- Lightly brush the tomatoes with some olive oil.
- Place the tart (on top of the cookie sheet) into the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes until the crust is a deep golden brown and the tomatoes look slightly cooked/roasted.
- Remove the tart from the oven and allow it to cool 15-20 minutes. Garnish the top generously with basil. Enjoy the tart right then and there or serve cold.
Notes
Dried beans vs. pie weights: To blind bake pastry, you can replace the need for specialty pie weights with dried beans. Once the blind bake is done, allow the beans to cool completely before storing them in a glass jar until the next time your recipe calls for a blind bake.
Tomatoes: You can alternatively use cherry tomatoes for this tart. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half. Using paper towels or a cloth, firmly press the cut tomatoes to extrude all the juices and seeds from them. Arrange the halved tomatoes, cut side up, on the top of the tart as the recipe instructs.