Block Party

Seems like it’s block party season again. A time for neighbors to gather and children to drink straight Sno-Cone syrup and then get in the bouncy castle. Like many, ours is a pot luck and the challenge is always to make something that will feed a decent amount of people and can sit out in the heat and sun. With those crietria in mind and the fact that I’m still deep in my tomato bounty, I chose a wonderful Tomato Tart from Cook’s Illustrated. I doubled the recipe and cut it into about 18 pieces. It went fast so I think it was a hit.

Tomato and Mozzarella Tart
Serves 4-6
From The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook
printable version

1 9×9-1/2″ sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (1/2 cup)
2 medium plum tomatoes (8 oz.) cored and sliced 1/4″ thick

1/2 teaspoon salt
4 oz. low-moisture mozzarella, shredded (1 cup)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower position and heat the oven to 425 degrees. Lay the pastry in the center of the baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the pastry with beaten egg. Fold about 1/2″ of the pastry over on all four sides [I then brushed the edges with more egg wash]. Sprinkle the Parmesan evenly over the crust bottom. Poke the dough uniformly with a fork. Bake until golden brown and crisp, 15-20 minutes [I found I had to poke it again while it was baking as the center was puffing up quite a bit]. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

2. Meanwhile, spread the tomatoes over several layers of paper towels. Sprinkle with the salt and let drain for 30 minutes.

3. Sprinkle the mozzarella evenly over the crust bottom. Press excess moisture from the tomatoes using additional paper towels. Arrange the tomato slices in a shingle style evenly over the mozzarella. Whisk the olive oil and garlic together and drizzle over the tomatoes. Bake until the shell is deep golden, 10-15 minutes.

4. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes and then sprinkle with the basil. Slide the tart onto a cutting board and slice into pieces [a pizza cutter works well for this].