Waiter There's Something in my.... topless tart!


Besides sounding the the punch line of an off-color joke, this is the theme for the monthly WTSIM blog event hosted this month by
Cook Sister! and as usual I am getting in just under the wire. I have not participated in WTSIM since there was something in my Easter Basket, but besides the incredibly rich humor potential in this month's theme, I actually made a recipe that fits in for a Wednesday tapas (no, not topless!) night that is both topless and a tart, and I thought this would be as good a time as any to share.
If you have followed my blog at all, you know that just about every Wednesday night we have a tapas night with our friend "Evil" David, where both of us make several small dishes. It is a time for us to try new things, explore new ingredients or combinations. If they turn out, it is great, but if not, it is a lesson learned, and we move on. Tapas night has included great successes such as a venison backstrap with a drunken dark cherry sauce, grilled sardines, and bulgogi and some real disasters like the time David's watermelon puree for his planned granita was spewed all over my kitchen and cabinets due to an ill-fitting blender lid. It took weeks before things were no longer sticky again.

Tapas also has become a way to experiment with and use up seasonal bounty- summer's zucchini, tomatoes and corn, fall beets and spinach , venison and winter squash in cold weather- all of these have found their way to the tapas table. And that is how we got to the topless tart that is my entry in the WTSIM...

I came up with this recipe as a way to use the last of the really good locally grown tomatoes and some goat cheese I had to create a light dish. I confess to using an all-ready pie crust for the bottom of this tart, but if you had time you could, of course, make your own. Now that great tomatoes are not as easily come by I would try oven roasting some tomatoes first to sweeten and intensify their flavor. In the summer this is a nice light lunch or a dinner with a big green salad. So give this topless tart a try when you need something light and luscious and hot (okay, okay, enough innuendo!)




Tomato and Goat Cheese (Topless) Tart

1 refrigerated all-ready pie crust
1-2 tablespoons pesto
3 large vine-ripened tomatoes thinly sliced (if tomatoes are out of season, roast sliced tomatoes in slow oven with a drizzle of olive oil for about 30 minutes)
4 ounces goat cheese crumbled

Press pie crust into a tart pan and crimp sides. Brush bottom of crust with pesto, and place sliced tomatoes in overlapping even layers.Slating and peppering each layer. Crumble cheese over top of tomatoes. Bake in 375 degree oven about 20 minutes or until crust is done, tomatoes are bubbly and cheese is soft and brown. Cut in squares or wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.


Comments

Freya said…
Such simple ingredients is all you need when they're goats cheese and tomatoes! Delicious!
Deborah Dowd said…
Freya and Paul- Glad you're out in the blogosphere again! The tart is delicious... and it's topless!
s'kat said…
Topless tarts are most certainly the best! Especially when drenched in such lovely materials.
Chef JP said…
Enjoyed your recipe--I'll mention it in my Friday morning food blog roundup. That Tapas party idea sounds like fun!
Deborah Dowd said…
S'kat- You were the one who inspired me with the roasted tomatoes!

Chef JP- Tapas is great fun and for us it makes a reason to dcelebrate good food and friends during the week!
Tapas, topless, and tarts--who wouldn't love all that alliteration? What a fun post, Deborah!
Deborah Dowd said…
Susan- It sounds very risque... but alas, it is not. Thanks for the kind words!
Jeanne said…
I could say something about tapas being tasty titbits, and then hook that up somehow with topless tarts... but because this is a family show I wont ;-) What a wonderful sounding tart - any excuse to have goats cheese has to be a good thing in my book! Thanks so much for daring to go topless for WTSIM this month :)
Deborah Dowd said…
Jeanne- This is the ONLY context in which I will be going topless at my age!
This does look very simple, yet I bet it is incredibly flavorful!
Deborah Dowd said…
Kristen- With great summer tomatoes it is food for the gods and with roasted tomatoes, even off-season it is great!