Heirloom Tomato Tart

Summer might be over, but Portland keeps hanging on to the sun. The leaves are falling off of the trees though and it is definitely fall. Maybe you stashed some tomatoes away in your freezer. Make this and pretend it's still August.

Heirloom Tomato Tart via Joy the Baker:

Makes 1 9 by 9 tart

For the sun dried tomato pesto sauce -

1 8 oz. jar sun dried tomatoes, some of the oil reserved

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1 small red chili, seeds remove and coarsely chopped

Big pinch of granulated sugar

1 scant tsp. salt

3-4 Tb. olive oil from the sun dried tomato jar

For the Tart-

1 9×9-inch sheet all-butter puff pastry, thawed but still cold

Small handful fresh basil leaves

4 oz. goat cheese

3 small heirloom tomatoes, sliced about ¼-inch thick and drained on paper towels

Handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half and seeds removed

1 Tb. fresh thyme leaves

Olive oil

To make the sun dried tomato pesto sauce, combine sun dried tomatoes, garlic cloves, chopped

chili, sugar, salt, and oil in the bowl of a food processor. Blend until combined, but still slightly

coarse. The mixture does not need to be completely smooth. Taste and season as needed. You'll get some extra. It's fantastic on other things, like toasted bread.

Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking

sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Unfold a chilled sheet of puff pastry. Roll lightly with a rolling pin just to flatten completely. Place on the prepared baking sheet and spread about half of the pesto sauce over the puff

pastry, leaving about a ½-inch border around the edges. Coarsely tear basil leaves over the

sauce. Crumble goat cheese over the sauce. Arrange heirloom tomatoes in a single layer over

the goat cheese and press down slightly. Try to cover as much of the sauce as possible as it can

burn in the oven if exposed. Add a few cherry tomato halves. Sprinkle generously with fresh

thyme and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until puffed and golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to rest

for at lease 10 minutes before serving.

It's kind of like pizza, but so much fancier. Close your eyes and dream of summer.