cherry tomato tart

Fall  has started creeping in the last week here.  The mornings are cooler, the air is clear and crisp. Summer dresses are being replaced by jeans and long sleeves.  I try to just enjoy this time of year, instead of dreading the cold days ahead.  Not easy, since I am a die-hard summer fan.  So I console myself with this little list of things Fall is good for:

• wearing perfume again(no bugs!)
• cozy knitted things
• apple pie

  I managed to escape the city this past weekend and went apple picking on a farm in west New Jersey.  It was early apple picking; honeycrisps and galas, some macintoshes. Alas, too soon for the good baking apples.  But the crop of tomatoes still had some last minute beauties if you hunted for them in the overgrown plants.  I came home with these lovely yellow and red cherry tomatoes and spent the whole ride back to the city daydreaming this last summer tart.  Fall and apple pie will have to wait.

ingredients:

adapted from Ina Garten and Cooks Illustrated

• red and yellow cherry tomatoes, about 1 c.
• 4 oz. goat cheese
• 1 sheet puff pastry
• 3 cloves garlic
• fresh thyme
• 3 tbl. olive oil
• 1 tbl. Parmesan cheese
• salt & pepper

Preheat your oven to 425°.  Take your puff pastry out of the freezer to thaw. Heat your olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium-low heat.  Mince your garlic.  If you have a microplane zester, use it here!  Otherwise, just mince it as fine as you can.  Mince your thyme, too.  When the oil is hot,  add your garlic and thyme and cook over low heat until oil is very fragrant, about 10 minutes.  Don’t let the garlic brown.

  When your oil is ready, sprinkle your counter top with flour, then roll your pastry out  about . Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Poke holes into the pastry with a fork and brush the top of your puff pastry with your oil.  Spread any clumps of garlic and thyme thin.

  Bake in the oven at 425° for 10 minutes, then lower oven temp to 350° and continue to bake until light golden brown, about another 10 minutes.  Remove pastry from oven and place on a wire rack.  Increase oven temperature to 425°. Baking the crust separately at first keeps it from getting soggy. (Thanks to all knowing Christopher Kimball for introducing it.)

  While your crust is cooking, slice tomatoes into thirds and allow to drain on a dish cloth.

Crumble your goat cheese over the top of your pastry.  Place tomatoes on top of the goat cheese.  Sprinkle top with Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.  Bake for 10-15 minutes until crust is golden brown.  Remove from oven, let cool 5 minutes, slice and eat!