Heirloom Tomato Tart

Heirloom tomato season is in full swing. Farmers markets and grocery stores offer so many colorful varieties. Unlike hot-house tomatoes the heirlooms are ripe or over ripe when they hit the produce aisle. Because ether can be pricey I try to buy them the day I plan to use them. My market had a good selection of ripe Mr. Stripey tomatoes to choose from. We enjoyed BLT's last night for dinner with the largest of the three I brought home. Today I made one of my favorite tarts, a tomato basil version with slices of ripe heirloom tomato, basil, shallots, garlic, Gruyère, Muenster, and white cheddar cheese. I took the easy way out and used a ready-made crust if homemade floats your boat, go for it!

I put the crust into a tart shell them put in a layer of thinly sliced Muenster cheese. Fresh basil went on top of the cheese.

I pressed two cloves of garlic and sprinkled them on, followed by thinly sliced shallots.

Grated Gruyère, and white cheddar were up next, followed by thick slices of tomato, a few small leaves of basil, a sprinkling of Parmesan, salt and pepper.

I baked the tart at 350 degrees until the cheeses were melted and bubbly, the crust was golden brown, and the tomatoes were cooked.

I never thought Michael would like this but he was in the kitchen when it came out of the oven, and he ate three slices. Dinner! Score!

Here's the recipe but you can all kinds of creative liberties with this tart. Just about any cheese will do. You can hang the herbs but the basil goes perfectly with the tomatoes. Swap the shallots in favor of onions. Slip and egg or two in the center and serve it for brunch. The key to success with this tart is using fresh, ripened on the vine tomatoes. I will be making this again when the tomatoes in my garden are ready to eat!

Heirloom Tomato Tart

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Ingredients

• ▢ 1 single pie crust
• ▢ 4 slices Muenster cheese
• ▢ Basil leaves
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic (pressed of finely minced)
• ▢ 2 sliced shallots
• ▢ Gruyere cheese (grated)
• ▢ White Cheddar cheese (grated)
• ▢ Fresh tomato slices
• ▢ Parmesan Cheese
• ▢ Salt and Pepper

Instructions

• Place a single pie crust into a shallow tart pan and trim excess. Lay the Muenster slices evenly over the crust. Add basil leaves according to your personal preference. Sprinkle the garlic and sliced shallots over the cheese. Top with grated cheeses, almost to the top of the crust. Lay the tomato slices on top, add additional basil, salt paper and a light sprinkling of parmesan cheese.
• Bake at 350 degrees until the crust is golden brown, the tomatoes are cooked and the cheese is melted and bubbly. The amount of time this will take to bake will depend on the size of your tart pan. My pan is ten inches in diameter and the tart took about 30 minutes to cook. Can be served hot or at room temperature.