Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Tomato Tart Provencale

Today was not a good day. I almost had to use my AK. Last week I read about this tomato tart in the NY Times and wanted to make it this weekend, but met my newest niece, Nova, instead. So tonight, in order to clear my head, I left work on time (5:30 p.m.) and decided to make the tart.

The first shocker was the recipe for the crust calling for shortening. I've only used butter in my pie or quiche crusts, and it sort of grossed me out. I thought that maybe I could substitute something else to make it healthier, but apparently, you need it. This explanation from Bon Appetit says that lard and vegetable shortening have unique chemical structures, which creates the perfect flaky crust. Here it is before the filling (clearly, I'm still working on getting it to sit on the edge of the dish and be crimped perfectly...I should have read these tips first.)


The quantities of the recipe have to be halved because it creates two tarts and I really only wanted the one. I also had to bake it about 6 minutes longer because I couldn't get the tomatoes to shrivel the way the recipe says. Here's the finished product!


Next time, I would toss the tomatoes with the herbs provencale so that it's mixed in rather than sprinkled on top. The gruyere cheese also tasted a little bit sour after being cooked. It's a strong, nutty cheese, which stands up against the acid of the tomatoes, but I'd use something more smooth next time.

2 comments:

  1. You make me look so bad. Ha ha. I am a disaster in the kitchen.

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  2. I give you a lot of credit for even trying the recipe - just the idea of doing something other than eat food cold or throwing it in the microwave right now seems impossible.

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