Oven Dried Tomato Tart

One of the many reasons Curtis is the best dad is that he loves my cooking (usually). He also knows better than to tell me if he doesn't like something right away (we define meals as "repeatable" or not vs good or bad). He also loved the meal I made I him this evening for our Father's Day dinner---slight pie theme going. We had an oven dried tomato tart and peanut butter cream pie (leftover from small group last night). Everyone ate the tart, or at least parts of the tart. Curtis and I thought it was fabulous and definitely a repeatable meal.

This isn't a hard meal to make or time intensive. It does take a while to make, but most of that time is spent doing nothing. I would plan on starting the tart 3 - 4 hours before you hope to eat. The tomatoes need to roast for 2 hours and the pastry needs to sit about 1 1/4 hours before you bake it (which takes another 30 + minutes) plus the actual 35 minutes of baking time. However during those times, you can do things like doing dishes, feeding a baby, putting away toys, blogging, etc). Hopefully next time I'll try roasting the tomatoes on a slow, low grill. I don't like how much the kitchen heats up over the 2 hours of roasting the tomatoes. It was worth it though. I am salivating just thinking about the tart again. Also, be sure you put weights in the empty pastry shell--I didn't have anything besides dried lentils which weren't heavy enough, so I had a little pit of crust difficulties (as you can see from the missing crust and weird shape). Here's the recipe:

The tomatoes after they have been roasted.

Oven Dried Tomato Tart
from Bon Appetit

5 T extra virgin olive oil, divided
6 large Roma tomatoes (or medium regular tomatoes), cored, halved crosswise and seeded
2 small garlic cloves, thinly slivered
2 T fresh thyme, minced
1 sheet frozen puff pastry (half of 17.3 oz pkg), thawed
1 c coarsely grated mozzarella cheese (or fresh mozzarella cheese balls)
4 oz soft fresh goat cheese
2 large eggs
1/4 c whipping cream
1/3 c black olives, pitted
2 T Parmesan cheese, grated

Line rimmed baking sheet with foil and brush with 1 T olive oil. Place tomato halves, cut sides up, on baking sheet. Sprinkle garlic and 1 T thyme over tomatoes. Drizzle remaining 1/4 c olive oil over top and sprinkle lightly with salt. Bake in preheated 300 degrees oven until tomatoes begin to shrink and are slightly dried, but still soft, about 2 hours. Cool on baking sheet.

While tomatoes finish cooking, let pastry thaw (it generally takes 40 minutes). Roll out pastry on lightly floured surface to 13" square. Transfer pastry to a 9" diameter tart pan with removable bottom, pressing pastry firmly onto bottom and sides of pan. Trim overhang to 3/4". Fold overhang in and press, pushing crust 1/4" above pan. Pierce crust all over with fork. Chill 30 minutes.

When tomatoes are cooling, position rack to the center of the oven and preheat to 375. Line with pastry with foil (including the sides) and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake until crust is set, about 20 minutes. Remove foil and beans; bake until crust edges are golden, piercing with fork if crust bubbles, about 12 minutes longer. Cool crust 10 minutes and reduce oven temp to 350. Meanwhile, using a fork or pastry blender, mash mozzarella, goat cheese, and remaining 1 T thyme together in medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add eggs and cream and stir until mixture is well blended. Spread cheese filling evenly over crust. Arrange tomato halves in filling, cut side up. Place olives between tomatoes. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese evenly over top. Bake until filling is puffed and set, about 35 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Push up pan bottom, releasing sides. Serve tart warm.