Cherry Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart on Puff Pastry

Every vegetable garden reaches a week in late August or early September when the cherry tomato plants stop being a pleasure and become a problem. They sprawl over the path, the fruit splits after every rain, and the bowl on the counter refills faster than anyone can eat it. This tart is the best answer I know. A pound and a half of cherry tomatoes roast with olive oil and balsamic vinegar until they slump and concentrate, then go onto a sheet of puff pastry with a little Parmesan, lumps of fresh goat cheese bound with egg and cream, and chopped thyme and basil. The pastry border, brushed with milk partway through, puffs up into a golden frame. It serves eight as a first course or four for supper with a green salad, and it cuts beautifully into small squares for a party.

Roasting the tomatoes first

Raw cherry tomatoes on pastry release their juice in the oven and leave you with a wet, pale tart. Roasting them first takes care of that. Toss them on a rimmed sheet pan with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and roast at 375°F (190°C) for 15 to 20 minutes, until most of the skins have wrinkled and a few have burst. They should look slumped and glossy, not collapsed into sauce.

Lift them onto the pastry with a slotted spoon and leave the juices behind. Do not throw those juices out: oil, vinegar and tomato together are most of a salad dressing already. Whisk them with a little more olive oil and a pinch of salt and use them on the greens you serve alongside.

Mix colors if your garden or market has them. Red, yellow and the dark purple-brown varieties together look like a jewel box on the pastry.

The pastry

Use an all-butter frozen puff pastry if you can find one; it tastes far better than pastry made with other fats. Thaw it in the refrigerator overnight, or on the counter for 30 to 40 minutes until it unfolds without cracking but is still cold. Warm puff pastry turns sticky and loses its layers.

Roll it to a rectangle about 14 by 12 inches on a lightly floured surface and slide it onto a parchment-lined sheet pan. Prick the center all over with a fork, which keeps it flat under the filling. Then fold in a 1-inch border along all four sides and press it lightly. Prick the border too, more gently. This doubled edge rises higher than the center and keeps the filling in place.

A thin layer of grated or shaved Parmesan on the pastry before the tomatoes go on acts as a barrier against moisture and adds a salty, nutty layer underneath.

Goat cheese and the custard

Fresh goat cheese, the soft white log kind, is the right one here. Aged goat cheeses are too firm and too strong. Crumble it into a bowl with one whole egg, two yolks and a couple of tablespoons of heavy cream and mash it with a fork just until it holds together. Leave it lumpy. The custard sets around the tomatoes, and the lumps of cheese stay soft and tangy in the finished tart. A smooth, fully blended filling looks like a quiche and loses that contrast.

From the recipe box

Cherry tomato and goat cheese tart

One 14 x 12-inch tart, serves 8 as a first course

Prep

30 min

Cook

1 hr

Rest

10 min

Total

1 hr 40 min

Show amounts in

US cups & spoons metric

Tomatoes

• 1 1/2 lb680 g cherry tomatoes, mixed colors
• 1 tbsp15 ml olive oil
• 1 tbsp15 ml balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tsp3 g kosher salt

Tart

• 1 sheet (about 9 oz)1 sheet (about 250 g) frozen all-butter puff pastry, thawed but cold
• 1/3 cup30 g shaved or grated Parmesan
• 5 oz140 g fresh goat cheese
• 11 large egg
• 22 large egg yolks
• 2 tbsp30 ml heavy cream
• 2 tbsp6 g chopped fresh thyme and basil, mixed, plus whole leaves to finish
• 1 tbsp15 ml olive oil, for drizzling
• 1 tbsp15 ml milk, for the border
• to tasteto taste salt and black pepper

Method

1. Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Toss the tomatoes with the oil, balsamic and salt on a rimmed sheet pan and roast 15 to 20 minutes, until the skins wrinkle and a few burst. Let them cool.
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry to a 14 x 12-inch rectangle and transfer it to a parchment-lined sheet pan.
3. Prick the pastry all over with a fork, fold in a 1-inch border on all four sides, press it lightly and prick it gently.
4. Sprinkle the Parmesan evenly inside the border.
5. Mash the goat cheese, egg, yolks and cream together with a fork, leaving plenty of small lumps.
6. Lift the tomatoes onto the pastry with a slotted spoon, leaving the juices in the pan, and spread them in one layer.
7. Spoon the goat cheese mixture between and over the tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with the chopped herbs.
8. Bake 25 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and starting to color.
9. Lower the oven to 350°F (175°C), brush the border with the milk and bake 10 to 15 minutes more, until the custard is set and the border is deep golden.
10. Cool 10 minutes on the pan, scatter with whole thyme and basil leaves, and cut.

Notes from the kitchen

• Roast the tomatoes up to 2 days ahead and keep them, with their juices, in the refrigerator.
• Reheat a baked tart at 350°F (175°C) for 8 to 10 minutes to crisp the pastry.

Cutting for a first course or a party

As a first course, cut the tart into eight rectangles: one cut down the long center, then three across. Serve each piece on a small plate with a few dressed greens.

For hors d'oeuvres, let it cool for at least 20 minutes so the custard firms up, then trim a thin strip off each edge if you want neat squares (the cook eats the trimmings). Cut five rows by six for 30 bite-sized squares about 2 inches across, or four by five for 20 larger ones that people will need a napkin for. A long serrated knife used with a gentle sawing motion cuts through the puffed pastry without crushing it. Wipe the blade between cuts.

Making ahead

The tart is at its best within two hours of baking, warm or at room temperature. For a party, bake it in the afternoon, leave it uncut on the pan, and rewarm it for 8 to 10 minutes just before guests arrive. Cut it once it is warm, not hot. You can also assemble the tart up to two hours ahead and keep it in the refrigerator on its pan, then bake it straight from cold, adding a few minutes. Because of the egg and cheese, leftovers go into the refrigerator once they have been out two hours.

Variations

Swap the goat cheese for ricotta mixed with lemon zest, or for crumbled feta and a few olives. Thin slices of zucchini under the tomatoes use up another surplus. For an even simpler tart, use the roasted tomatoes with nothing but Parmesan and thyme. For vegan guests, leave out the cheeses and custard, use a puff pastry made without butter, and finish the baked tart with olive oil and torn basil.

On the menu

This tart fits a late summer buffet next to a big salad. The plums and tomatoes with burrata is a bit late in the season to pair with it, but in a warm September the two overlap, and the carrot and broccoli salad with crema gives you a crunchy, cool contrast. For more small bites to set out with drinks, see Party Food & Hors d'Oeuvres.

Look at the bottom of a square before you put the tray out. It should be crisp and golden all the way across, with no pale, damp patch under the tomatoes.