I made this Tomato, Ricotta and Thyme Tart to take to my niece’s 3rd birthday BBQ, knowing there would be a handful of vegetarians attending.
This is a beautiful dish that is great served warm, straight from the oven. It is also divine to take to summer gatherings, BBQ’s and picnics because it is just as lovely at room temperature. I adore the semi dried state of the tomatoes, as they go jammy in the oven and intensify in flavour. I used fresh pizza thyme, as it’s plentiful in my garden at the moment. Basil, oregano and tarragon are gorgeous alternatives. For simplicity sake, I used store bought puff pastry as there are some lovely inexpensive options available.
Serve this as one large tart, or you can create individual servings for a platter. Just remember to adjust the cooking times to suit.
Ingredients
- 4 large tomatoes
- Balsamic vinegar (optional)
- Puff pastry
- Filling:
- 200gm ricotta cheese
- 100gm cream cheese
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1 lemon, zested
- 1/2 cup of finely grated cheese - I use a mix of parmesan and cheddar
- Handful of fresh thyme, stalks removed and finely chopped
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
Half each of the tomatoes and lay cut side up on an oven tray, season with salt and pepper. I added a dash of balsamic vinegar for flavour as well. Slow roast them in the oven, for roughly 2 hours at 150 degrees. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
Dust a 25cm quiche dish with flour and then line with puff pastry. Blind bake at 180 degrees for 20 minutes, then remove the baking beans and paper and put back in the oven for 5 minutes to slightly cook the middle.
While the pastry is blind baking in the oven, mix together the filling ingredients until combined and as smooth as possible. Once the pastry is done carefully pour the filling into the pastry case, smoothing out to the edges as you go.
Carefully lay the tomatoes on top, cut side up. Return to the oven for 20 minutes until the filling is slightly raised and golden on top.
Serve with a green salad and a beautiful relish, either warm or at room temperature.
