August 2, 2012

Tomato Tart with Parmesan & Basil {Naptime Entertaining}

Tomato Parmesan and Basil Tart via The Naptime Chef

Last week I had less than half an hour to whip up a simple summer treat for a last minute dinner party. With some fresh tomatoes, my ever-present stash of Parmesan, and a tuft of fresh basil in the herb pot I decided to make my favorite Tomato Tart with Parmesan and Basil. Coincidentally, my dear friend Liz the Chef had just emailed me from San Diego to say she was enjoying her latest version of this tart. We both became addicted to it last summer when I first wrote about it on Babble. It seems with tomato season in full swing we both had this light summer dish on the brain!

The endless appeal of this tart is how flexible the ingredients are and how it can be prepped for the oven in literally five minutes flat. Last year I made it with tomatoes and thyme, but since then I’ve tried all kinds of combinations like tomato/goat cheese/oregano, tomato/blue cheese/walnuts, and this one with parmesan and basil. The key is to add just the right amount of flavoring so that they shine through without weighing down the pastry. For entertaining I like to cut it up into little squares with my pizza cutter. When it is just my family take a less elegant approach and eat it in large triangles like pizza!

Recipe

Tomato Tart with Parmesan & Basil

Ingredients

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed

2 to 3 fresh tomatoes

¼ cup shaved Parmesan

1 tablespoon chopped basil

kosher salt

olive oil

freshly cracked black pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper or a Silpat. Place the puff pastry on the lined baking sheet and lightly score a ½″ border around the edge with a sharp knife. Use fork tines to prick the pastry inside the border all over. This will prevent the pastry from puffing up too much when baking.

2. Place the tomato slices in a single layer on the puff pastry, being careful not to overlap. Sprinkle the Parmesan and basil over the tomatoes, then drizzle with olive oil, a few cranks of good pepper and sea salt.

3. Baked for 30-40 minutes or until pastry is crispy and deeply browned. Sprinkle on a dash more salt. Serve.

Naptime Notes

Naptime Recipe Serving ideas

For entertaining this is delicious when serve up in squares for people to pick up. Or, serve it alongside a green salad for a summery appetizer.

Naptime Stopwatch

10 minutes prep time, 30 minutes bake time

Naptime Reviews

This takes so little time and is bursting with amazing summer flavor. Everyone always loves it, even my daughter!

 

 

 

One Response to “Tomato Tart with Parmesan & Basil {Naptime Entertaining}”