"Gummy Bears Don't Come from the Vine," but Tomatoes Do!

Heirloom Tomato Tart with Anchovies

Defunct former Real Housewife of New York and alleged union kingpin Bethenny Frankel once said…

And she’s right, they sure don’t.

But you know what does come from the vine? Tomatoes. As many of you know, tomatoes are my most important food- seasonally I’m thriving between the red fruit and stone fruit holding strong in California for a couple more weeks.

It all started when my good friend Zoe gave me a giant culled Heirloom tomato, so I thought it would be a great time to make a tomato tart, an old classic for me.

I did some adjustments to my regular recipe, I need to account that I don’t have a kitchen full of useful tools- shout out to my old roommate Nicky for letting me use all her kitchen tools. (Note: reminder to add food processor/ blender/ food brush to wishlist)

Ok to start, I was originally going to use prosciutto but an anchovy addition was just too hard to resist, and I accidently opened the tin before even remembering I got prosciut’. So sorry if the photos are confusing.

Ingredients

2 Heirloom Tomatoes, 1 big, 1 small.
A few Cherry Tomatoes
6 oz Feta
4 dollops of Greek Yogurt
Handful of Basil
Salt
Olive Oil
2 eggs- one for the filling, one for the egg wash
1 sheet of Puff Pastry (not photoed)
1 tin Chovies (not photoed)
Dash of Balsamic Vinegar (not photoed)

***If you are using frozen puff pastry, pull out and let thaw in your fridge for about 3 hours***

First thing, preheat your oven to about 375 (trust your gut if your oven runs hot, aim for a little lower, you need the filling to cook and the tomatoes to give before the pastry gets too toasted)

Butter your chosen baking vessel,

Lay out your pastry, keep it even and stretch where needed, but press any holes or tears. Add a thin egg wash (1 large egg, a little bit of water, you want this a little chilled so use an egg right out of the fridge and cold water)

Add some salted tomatoes to the bottom as a base layer-

*** Heirlooms have A LOT of water- let the slices sit on a paper towel for a few minutes and add salt to extract more excess water***

Set this aside

Next chop up fresh basil and get your filling ingredients ready

Add the feta, yogurt, a egg and oil to a bowl to mix, add a few dashes of Balsamic Vinegar as desired.

Add the half the oil from a tin of Anchovies, mix well (use a blender if you have one)

Pour mix evening over base tomatoes. Mine is much looser than I would prefer, if you use a blender you will get a thicker consistency.

Slice the biggest Heirloom you can find. Thin steaks will work best. Chop Cherry Tomatoes in half

Add the final tomatoes and evenly spread your anchovies.

Bake until pastry is browned and tomatoes begin to give.

Add some Basil and Parm for garnish

And let it set for about 15 minutes to set… I learned the hard way.

YIKES!

Thanks for coming along for the ride-

BONUS:

What I Was Drinking

BONBUZ SPRITZ

1 part Bonbuz
1 part Lemon Juice
2 parts Topo Chico
1 Pinch of Smoked Salt

Cheers!