How to Make a Tomato Tart. An Easy Basic Recipe with Variations

It's tomato season – the time of year to gorge yourself on these savory beauties before they get replaced by supermarket lookalikes – winter clones imported from somewhere that appear to be tomatoes, but curiously lack all tomato flavoring…

Here's a recipe for a very easy tomato tart that I like to serve with a little salad for a dead-easy weekend light lunch.

You can make this with a homemade pie crust, of course, but I'll often cheat a little and just use a supermarket pre-made crust for this one, because doing so makes this recipe so so easy – something that takes only 5 minutes or so of active work but that creates something delicious and kind of fancy looking.

Here's a link to a gluten free-pie crust recipe, this makes it a beautiful gluten free meal…

Anyway, there are a million possible variations for this concept. Most variations run on very similar themes, however, and call for ripe, seasonal tomatoes, cut into slices, some kind of tomato-complementary cheese (mozzarella, fontina, goat cheese, provolone etc.. a little olive oil, salt pepper and a herbal counter point, something like a basil or thyme. Whack it all together and bake until your crust is golden and you've got tomato tart. Delicious.

Basic Tomato Tart Recipe

• One pie crust (store bought or homemade)
• About 2 cups of very fresh, just picked harvest tomatoes, cut into thin rounds. Plum tomatoes work well here, as they give off a bit less liquid.
• About 1 cup of cheese of your liking – fresh mozzarella is an obvious starting point, but other cheeses that work well include feta, parmesan, provolone, pecorino, ricotta, goat cheese and gorgonzola or blue cheese. If using a very assertive cheese, such as a blue cheese, you may want to make a cheese blend, to cut it back a touch)
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• A couple or 3 Tbls full of fresh herbs of your choice. Fresh herbs that work well here include, basil, thyme, garlic, marjoram and oregano.

1. Preheat your oven to 400
2. Cover the bottom of the pie crust with the cheese (Grated or cut small) (reserve a small amount of the cheese for topping the pie)
3. Top the cheese with 2/3s of the herbs, finely julienned or torn
4. Arrange the tomatoes on top of the cheese and herbs, in overlapping patterns
5. Drizzle a couple of Tbls of olive oil over the top of the tomatoes and top with a good pinch of salt and some freshly ground black pepper
6. Add on a couple more spoonfuls of the reserved cheese atop the tomatoes
7. Bake in the oven for a half hour or so (30-40min), or until the crust is golden brown
8. Top the finished pie with the reserved fresh herbs and serve!