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As much as my husband Jack and I both love to create our own original recipes, sometimes it is just as nice for us when we simply cook together in the kitchen following a well-written recipe that someone else has created. Even better when that recipe turns out to be an incredibly delicious dish!
Such is the case with today’s Tomato Tart with Smoked Gruyère and Cracked Black Pepper. This recipe is an adaptation of this wonderful recipe that we came across on a website called Food and Style.
We had a box of gorgeous beefsteak tomatoes on hand that were getting riper by the day, and we wanted to use them up before they got too ripe. So after a quick search online, we landed on this tomato tart recipe.
We did make some minor adaptations – swapping in a smoked Gruyère cheese for the Comte cheese in the original recipe. As it turned out, the smoked cheese was really fantastic with the slices of ripe tomato and the creamy, soft, egg custard in this tart.
This Tomato Tart with Smoked Gruyère and Cracked Black Pepper looks very elegant! I know – tart pasty has a reputation for being difficult to make – but this entire recipe was surprisingly easy to prepare, including the delicious and buttery tart shell! The pasty mixed up quickly in a food processor and it was wonderfully easy to handle and roll.
We’ve shared our adapted recipe below, but please check out the original recipe here. The blogger, Viviane Bauquet Farre, shares a step-by-step video on her site that shows exactly how easy this delicious Tomato Tart is to make!
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Tomato Tart with Smoked Gruyère and Cracked Black Pepper
Note: Tart can be made ahead and left at room temperature for no more than four hours. Place back in 375 degree F oven for 6-8 minutes to reheat. Dough will get soggy once refrigerated.
Ingredients
Tart shell
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 8 tablespoons cold butter cut into one inch chunks
- 3 tablespoons cold whole milk
- Flour to roll dough
- Butter to grease tart pan (only needed if you are not using a non-stick pan)
Tart filling
- 2 large ripe beef steak tomatoes, 1 1/4 pounds
- 1 extra large egg
- 3 extra large egg yolks
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 8 ounces smoked Gruyere cheese, shredded (or to be true to the recipe, use Comte if you can find it)
- 1/4 teaspoon more of sea salt
- 1 tablespoon coarsely cracked black pepper
Instructions
- To make the tart shell, place flour, nuts, Parmesan and salt into a food processor. Blend on high for 30 seconds until nuts are finely chopped. Add chunks of cold butter, making sure they don’t touch each other and pulse until mixture is crumbly.
- Drizzle in cold milk evenly over mixture and pulse until dough comes together.
- Place dough on counter and form into a ball, flattened to 1 ½ inches thick.
- Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 20-30 minutes while you work on tart filling. Dough should be cold but still pliable.
- To make filling, core and slice tomatoes ¼ inch thick either by hand or with a mandolin. You will need 10 slices which may not use all of the tomatoes.
- Lay paper towels over a sheet pan, lay the tomato slices over the paper towels and then more paper towels over that. Press down slightly so that the liquid gets absorbed into the paper towels. Let sit 15 minutes.
- While tomatoes are drying, preheat oven to 325 degrees F and pull dough from the refrigerator and place on a floured surface.
- Sprinkle the top with flour and roll to a 12 inch circle.
- Carefully roll back onto rolling pin and then unroll over an 11 inch tart pan. Mold into bottom and sides and cut off any access by running rolling pin across top and letting excess dough fall off.
- Place the tart pan with dough into the freezer for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, line the dough with foil and pour in pie weights or dry kidney beans and bake for 20 minutes on a sheet tray until dough is pale yellow at the edges.
- Remove from oven, cool for 10 minutes then remove foil and weights. Set aside to cool.
- Increase oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a medium bowl, place egg and egg yolks and whisk vigorously.
- Add cream, milk and salt and whisk to incorporate. Set aside.
- Line the cooled tart shell with the grated cheese.
- Top with sliced tomatoes arranging them around in a circle slightly overlapping.
- Pour in the custard and push the tomatoes slices under the surface of the custard.
- Sprinkle the additional salt and the pepper over the top of the tart.
- Bake for 40 minutes and check for doneness by inserting the blade of a paring knife into the custard and if it comes out clean, remove tart from oven. If not, bake for five more minutes or until done and golden brown.
- Let cool for 15 minutes before slicing.
- Best served warm or hot.
- Note: Tart can be made ahead and left at room temperature for no more than four hours. Place back in 375 degree F oven for 6-8 minutes to reheat. Dough will get soggy once refrigerated.
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what size tart pan
Hi Susan – We used an 11-inch tart pan