Printfriendly

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Fall Veggie Tarts with Roasted Tomato Sauce

Full of late summer vegetables, these tarts are crazy delicious-but also pretty work intensive. I don't think I would have made them for dinner one night weeks ago had I really known how much work they were, from the sauce to the pastry and filling.  On the other hand, they were so tasty I would make them again for a special occasion, such as Thanksgiving.  You do need mini tart pans to make these, which I don't have-and upon realizing it, I improved with a large muffin tin.

Adapted from Fresh

Roasted Tomato Sauce: 

4 large ripe tomatoes, cut in half
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 coarsely chopped onions
2 cloves garlic (not chopped)
1 cup water
1 tsp sugar

Pre heat your oven to 450 F. Toss the tomatoes, garlic, and onions with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then put in an ovenproof dish. Roast for about 1/2 hour. Transfer to a small saucepan, and add water and sugar.

Simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes before transferring to a food processor or blender and pureeing. Strain through a fine mesh sieve. At this point, I found the mixture to be kind of watery, so I continued to simmer for about an hour until the mixture became thick. I also added some tomato paste (about 2 tbsp) to get it to the consistency I wanted.

Meanwhile, make your tarts.

Pastry:

3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 tbsp cold water

Whisk flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt together in a bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or two knives until the mixture resembled coarse crumbs. Stir in the water with a fork until just combined, then turn mixture out onto a lightly floured counter and bring together with your hands, trying not to handle it too much. Let the dough sit and rest for about 20 minutes on the counter, covered. Divide dough into 4 pieces. Roll each piece out to about 1/8 inch thick, then cut into a 6 inch circle. Set aside.



veggie tarts

Filling: 

1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup diced onions
1 cup diced green zucchini
1 cup diced yellow zucchini
1/2 cup thinly sliced leeks
1/2 cup diced red peppers
1 cup green or yellow beans, thinly sliced
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 tbsp parsley
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
4 oz fresh goat cheese (I used one rolled in herbs)

In a pan over medium heat, heat up your olive oil and saute the onions and garlic until translucent and soft.  Stir in zucchinis, leeks, peppers, and beans, continuing to cook and stir until they are just crisp tender.  Remove from the heat and stir in the basil, parsley, and thyme.

Assembly:

The original recipe called for tart shells, but I didn't have the right sized tart pans.  What's a girl to do? I had already mounded the filling on the uncooked pastry!  Here's what you do:  If you have 4 inch tart shells, line them with the pastry, allowing the dough to extend past the edges of the shell.  Mound 1/2 cup filling into the tart shells, dotting with goat cheese.  Fold the pastry up and around the filling, tucking it in.

Now, what to do if you don't have tart pans?  I mounded the filling on the pastry, dug out my large muffin tin (not a regular sized one-too small!), and gently set the filled pastry into a muffin cup.  It didn't quite fit all the way in, which was fine-I tucked it on the top as best I could, pushing it down slightly-not all the way, which was fine-as the tarts cooked, they sunk farther into the muffin tin anyhow.

Bake tarts until golden and cooked through-about 20 minutes.

To serve the tarts, spread 1/4 cup of the tomato sauce on a plate, and set a tart in it.

Serves 4.





veggie tarts 2
© 2005-2017 all written and photographic content by Scattered Mom/Karen Humphrey (unless otherwise specified) and may not be reproduced or used in any manner without consent. All rights reserved.

© 2014 Chasing Tomatoes, AllRightsReserved.

Designed by ScreenWritersArena