Screw winter: Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart

Today definitely felt like the first day of spring here in Hoboken. Sure, I suppose it could still snow a few more times before winter is truly over, but the cloudless skies and warmish weather made me forget that snow was still falling just a day or two ago. It is melted now - even the giant mountains of it that plows had pushed to the corners of parking lots are gone. Andstill more exciting than the beautiful weather are the golden crocus bulbs that are poking their way out of the soil.

Sounds idyllic right? It could have been, except for the sounds in the background of drunken revelers that marks the first weekend in March for all Hoboken residents. Yes, today was the annual Hoboken St. Patrick's Day Parade, a drunken orgy where twenty-somthings from the tri-state area descend on my town to "get wasted", vomit, and get in fights. No chirping birds for me - I get whooping ex-frat boys instead. Kill me now.

The stream of green t-shirts passing by my window left me inclined to start the day in a rotten mood. Apparently the kids these days prefer to wear "kiss me I'm shitfaced" over "kiss me I'm Irish". Further annoying me, A had left me home alone for the weekend while he dealt with work in Mexico. Poor lonesome me, holed up in the apartment all day so as to avoid the aggressive drunks outside. It makes me feel so old, as just a few years ago, I might have joined in on the festivities. Ok, maybe not.

Screw winter! Screw the town! If I can't go outside and enjoy the first real day of spring weather, spring would come to me via the kitchen. Time to rebel against seasonal vegetables! Comfort food is in order! I want basil... and chives... and cheese... maybe even a tomato or two. Surely in these "modern times" I should be able to find at least one decent tomato.

Tomato and goat cheese tart seemed like the perfect solution to my mood. Non-seasonal, cheesy goodness. Of course it would be better to hold off on this recipe until summer, but at this point, even mediocre tomatoes would make me feel better than another meal of root vegetables.

Goat cheese and tomato tart was a dish that I discovered last fall, before I started keeping this blog. It was a recipe that I put together after studying a number of different goat cheese tart recipes, both from Epicurious and elsewhere on the web. Specifically I was looking for a savory brunch dish that had components you could do ahead, so as to minimize active prep time in the morning. With this recipe, the tomatoes and garlic can be roasted a day ahead and stored in the fridge. The tart crust can also be prepared and placed into the tart pan ahead of time. If you really want to get ahead, you could probably saute the shallots and mix the custard a day early too. This only leaves pre-baking the crust and assembling/baking the tart the day that you serve it.

Recipe after the jump!



Goat Cheese and Tomato Tart
Pate brisee for a 9 inch tart
5 plum tomatoes
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
1 head garlic
12-15 sprigs thyme
1 large shallot
Basil
Chives
8 oz goat cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup skim milk
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a large baking dish with foil and brush the foil with olive oil. Halve and core the plum tomatoes and place them in the baking dish in a single layer. Peel and slice 4-5 garlic cloves and sprinkle them over the tomatoes. Place 2-3 thyme sprigs in each tomato half. Spread the remainder of the garlic, unpeeled, around the dish for roasting. Drizzle ingredients with olive oil and sprinkle with salt/pepper and roast for approximately 2 hours. Once roasted, tomatoes can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator overnight if necessary.

Roll the pate brisee out and fit it into a 8 inch tart pan. Cover the pastry in foil and fill it with pie weights or dried beans. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake the covered crust for about 20 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and bake for another 5 minutes, or until the sides of the crust are set.

Mash the roasted garlic into a paste and spread it on the bottom of the pie crust. Dice the shallot and saute it in a bit of olive oil until soft and translucent. Spread the shallots in the bottom of the pie crust. Next arrange the roasted tomato halves and goats cheese in the crust. Sprinkle generously with basil and chives.

In a separate bowl, mix together the cream, milk and eggs. Pour the prepared custard into the crust until nearly filled.

Bake tart for approximately 30-35 minutes. Tart will be finished when the cheese and egg custard begin to brown. I recommend placing the tart pan on a cookie sheet for baking in case any custard or cheese overflows.