Salad

I know I keep saying I love Fall- the pumpkins, the weather, the birthday month. But I am still holding on to Summer a little bit…

Every Summer my mom plants tomatoes in our garden. We usually get two batches of amazing fresh, homegrown tomatoes each Summer and we eat them with every meal. I’m already counting down the days until we get them again.

We had one last batch of tomatoes this Summer, so we decided to use them to make these delicious tarts (along with a few cherry tomatoes from the Farmers’ Market). We made these tarts for dinner and they were light and refreshing while also being filling. The fresh tomatoes paired with the cheesy tart was just a perfect meal and the leftovers the next day were even better.

For leftovers, I kept half of the tart plain (without the salad) and kept the extra salad in a separate tupperware. When I was ready to eat, I warmed the tart and then added the salad.

Heirloom Tomato Salad Over Cornmeal-Pepper Crust

Makes 2 9″ round tarts (or 1 9″ tart and 1 11.25″ x 8″ Tart)

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 yellow stone ground cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
• 8 ounces cold butter (cut into small cubes)
• 1/2 cup ice cold water
• 6 cups dried beans or pie weights

Filling:

• 1 egg
• 15 ounces low fat ricotta cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Zest of 1 lemon

Tomato Salad:

• 1 pound heirloom tomatoes (some cherry and some large, quartered or halved)
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• squeeze of fresh lemon juice
• Sea salt/ cracked black pepper
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 4-5 leaves of fresh basil, chopped
• 3 cups arugula

Directions:

For crust:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and adjust the rack to the middle.
2. In a food processor, combine flour, cornmeal, salt and pepper and pulse to blend.
3. Add butter to food processor and pulse until it resembles coarse, chunky sand.
4. Through the top of the food processor, slowly add in cold water as you pulse.
5. Continue to pulse until dough forms and begins to gather in the middle. (Do not over mix the dough).
6. Once ready, remove dough from food processor and divide it into two equal sized balls. Flatten the balls into two discs of equal size. Wrap the discs in plastic wrap or wax paper and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
7. Remove from refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature.
8. Line counter with slip mat and place one of the discs in the middle. Place a piece of plastic wrap on top and roll out the dough to create a circle 1/4 inch thick.
9. Remove plastic wrap and place your dough into a tart shell.
10. Form the dough into tart shell by pressing gently with your fingers, remove the excess dough by using the edge of the pan as a knife and pressing the dough onto it.
11. Repeat steps 8-10 with second tart shell. For a square tart shell, layer the disc of dough in the center and spread, using excess dough to cover your corners.
12. Line tarts with wax paper and fill with beans or pie weights. Bake for 18-20 minutes then carefully remove beans/weights.
13. Prick the bottom of your crust a few times with a large fork. This will prevent the crust from puffing up.
14. Place crust make into the oven and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until center of crust is firm when tapped.
15. Cool slightly.

For Filling:

1. Reduce oven to 325 degrees.
2. While crust is cooling, combine egg, ricotta cheese, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic, cheese and lemon zest in a small bowl.
3. Divide mixture into two and pour each half into a tart shell.
4. Bake for 20 minutes.
5. Set aside.

For Salad:

1. While tarts are cooling, toss heirloom tomatoes, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper and basil in a small bowl. Let sit for 20 minutes so tomatoes can macerate.
2. Add arugula and mix.
3. For serving, top the arugula salad mix on top of the warmed tart.

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