Heirloom Tomato Tart

Heirloom tomatoes, parmesan cheese, and fresh basil get a perfumed seasoning with Borneo. The long floral finish of long pepper with lemon and mace bring a seasonal favorite to a new level.

Author

Helen Park

Servings

8

Category

Appetizer

Ingredients

• ¾ cup grated parmesan cheese (70 g)
• 1 pound medium and small-sized heirloom tomatoes (453 g)
• 1 Tbsp Borneo blend (6 g)
• 1 T Olive oil (14 g)
• ½ tsp tapioca starch
• bunch fresh basil
• ½ cup Oz Marinated Onion
• Salt to taste
• 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour (150g)
• ¼ tsp fine sea salt
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 8 Tbsp unsalted butter, very cold, and cut into cubes (113 g)
• 2-4 Tbsp ice water (30-60g)
• 1 Tbsp Oz spice blend
• 1 cup red onion, small dice (150g)
• ½ tsp fine sea salt
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar (30g)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil (30g)

Directions

1. Prepare a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper to line the bottom.
2. Using a food processor, pulse the flour, sea salt, and baking powder together to combine.
3. Add the butter and keep pulsing until the flour resembles wet sand with small pea-size or smaller lumps of butter.
4. Pulse in one tablespoon of ice water at a time. After adding two spoonfuls of water, check by opening the lid and trying to clump the mixture together in your hand. If it’s still too dry, add another tablespoon of water and pulse again. If it’s just barely holding together, move onto the next step.
5. To form the dough, lay a big square of plastic wrap down onto your work surface and deposit the crumbly mixture into the center. 
6. Gather the corner and sides of the plastic and push the dough into the center and flatten to form a disk. This brings the dough together without overworking the mix or risking any melting from too much warm hand contact.
7. As you bring the plastic in to the center to make the dough, make sure to press out excess air.
8. Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour, or up to two days, to give the dough time to rest and the flour time to hydrate.
9. While getting ready to roll out your crust, take your dough out and let it come up to a rollable temperature.
10. Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin and roll the dough out into a 9"x12" rectangle.  Use more flour sparingly, as needed, to keep the dough from sticking to the surface or the rolling pin.
11. Transfer the dough to your prepared parchment paper.
12. Fold each of the sides in by half an inch and give it a gentle press to flatten.
13. Going around the edges of the dough, crimp the dough between your two forefingers and thumb like a classic pie crust.
14. Move the dough and paper onto the baking tray and spread the parmesan to cover the bottom of the tart shell.
15. Cut the medium sized tomatoes into 1” thick slices. Small tomatoes can be cut in half or left whole if they are less than 1” thick.
16. Arrange the cut tomatoes in a flat layer in the prepared shell.
17. In a small bowl mix all of the remaining filling ingredients well to combine.  Brush over the tomatoes in the tart using all of the mixture and making sure all tomatoes getting a brushing of the seasoning liquid.
18. Place the tray with the tart into the refrigerator to rest and chill for 15 minutes.
19. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
20. Bake the tart for 15 minutes, turn the tray, then bake for another 12-15 minutes, or until the dough is cooked through and golden brown.
21. Allow to cool half an hour prior to cutting to let the crust and juices set.
22. Garnish with fresh basil leaves, Oz marinated onions, and season with salt before serving.