Excellent with a chilled chardonnay.
We live in beautiful times. How many food channels are there now? Food magazines, food apps, food social media pages, commercials…I see more pictures of food in a day than pictures of my own children. I really love cooking, cuisine, and everything connected with gastronomy, but Lord, it is overwhelming.
Sometimes I think about the young people that are trying to learn how to cook, and it seems like there is too much cooking info out there. Most people nowadays simply run a search for a recipe, and try the first thing that pops up on their screen. Every time I play “Recipe Roulette”, the recipe fails.
As I mentioned in my last blog posts, my nieces, nephews and sons are probably the reason that I blog so much. There are loads of bloggers out there that post recipes, but what I can offer my family is recipes that they have enjoyed at my house, and recipes that they know will work.
A Recipe for a Novice Chef
I wrote this recipe for my niece that entertains a lot. It’s easy enough as it uses a store bought crust, but you can also switch out the herbs that are sprinkled on top, in order to develop your palate for the flavors that you prefer. My favorite toppings for this goat cheese tart is a handful of arugula, or with a sprinkling of fresh rosemary, as shown.
Rolling out the pie crust on parchment makes the process of making a goat cheese tart so easy…you simply slide the tart onto your baking sheet, and after it is baked, you can then slide it easily onto your serving plate or cutting surface. And, virtually no clean up.
Really I am only thinking of my own future. At some point, I am hoping that all these young chefs will cook for me. How pleasant it will be to pass the mixing spoon onto them…but I will never quit cooking entirely, but I’m sure you already knew that part of the story…
Don’t worry if the crust is too big for the parchment
Spoon the prepared tomatoes over the yogurt filling
Simply crimp edges over to form crust
Slide the tart onto the baking sheet
Tomato Goat Cheese Tart with Fresh Herbs
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 60 min
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 8 Servings 1x
- Category: Baked Goods
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Continental
Ingredients
1 store bought single crust for pie, room temperature
Parchent paper for baking
1–2 tbsp flour for rolling surface (8–16 gr)
1 cup whole milk plain yogurt (goat yogurt if possible)
1 egg
8 oz goat cheese, room temperature (250 gr)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 lb. cherry tomatoes (500 gr)
2 tbsp. olive oil (30 ml)
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped (substitute basil, thyme, parsley, cilantro, tarragon, or a large handful of arugula)
Instructions
Heat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Cut a large square of parchment paper that will fit onto a flat cookie sheet. Place the parchment on a flat work surface. Dust the parchment with a small amount of flour, and unroll the crust, placing it on top of the parchment paper. The crust should be about 9” in diameter. Using a rolling pin, roll the crust until it is 14” in circumference. You may need to rub a bit of the flour onto the rolling pin so the dough does not stick.
Once the crust is rolled out, make the filling. Place the yogurt, egg, and goat cheese in a bowl and beat together using an electric hand mixer. (You can also use a potato masher if you don’t have a mixer, although there may be a few lumps. Don’t worry about the lumps.)
In a separate bowl, toss the cherry tomatoes together with the olive oil, coating the tomatoes well.
Spoon the yogurt mixture onto the center of the rolled crust, and spread evenly leaving a 2” (5cm) margin on the perimeter of the dough to form an outer crust. Fold this margin over towards the center which may require some pleating (see pic.)
Spoon the prepared cherry tomatoes over the filling, arranging them evenly. Slide the parchment onto a metal baking sheet and bake the tart in the heated oven for 50-60 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.
Remove from the oven, and sprinkle over the chopped rosemary (or the herbs of your choice.) Allow to cool for 20 minutes before serving.
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