Fresh Tomato Tart

To do this right, you’ll need your own vegetable garden or access to fresh tomatoes of an heirloom variety. There are some strong flavors here — pesto, particularly — but they work well together, and the tomatoes still have pride of place. If there are no heirlooms in your garden, at least avoid hothouse tomatoes. Taste to be sure. Better yet, find a good farmer’s market.

Have ready:

Dough for a 9-inch single pie crust (store-bought or homemade)
Fresh tomatoes (about four regular or 15 to 20 cherry size)
Up to ½ cup (4 oz.) pesto, preferably homemade
4 oz. shredded mozzarella
2-3 tbs. finely chopped fresh basil and oregano or your preferred herb
3 large eggs
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground white pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

A nine-inch fluted tart pan is a good choice for homemade dough, but the tart does equally well in a standard 9-inch pie plate if you’re buying it frozen. Prick the dough all over with a fork. If you have pie weights or dried beans to spare, line the crust with aluminum foil and add the weights. Pre-bake the pie shell until it begins to turn golden, about 15 or 20 minutes. Remove it from the oven, remove the foil and weights if you have used them; gently flatten the bottom a bit if you haven’t. Increase the oven temperature to 375°.

While the crust is pre-baking, cut the tomatoes into half-inch slices or halve the cherry tomatoes lengthwise. Put the tomatoes in a sieve or colander and allow them to drain a bit. Combine and chop the basil and oregano as finely as you can.

Assemble the tart. First, spread the pesto thinly (to taste) all over the bottom and up the sides. Next, add a layer of mozzarella, then sprinkle the chopped herbs evenly over the cheese. Lay the tomato slices or cherry tomatoes (cut side up) over the herbs.

Combine the eggs, cream, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Whisk them or beat them with a hand mixer. Pour the custard mixture over the tomatoes, being sure to distribute it as evenly as possible with no gaps. Bake the tart until everything is set and doesn’t jiggle much when nudged. About 40 minutes should do it, but check on it.

Let the tart cool a bit before serving. It’s good at room temperature or even refrigerated for next-day leftovers.

A bit of history: I first made this when Anne and Ed were visiting from Madrid. We were having dinner on the deck. The cherry tomatoes were straight from the garden — juicy, fragrant and highly flavorful. Fresh basil and oregano from the herb garden. The tart was baked to perfection, but as I was taking it from the oven, I dropped the whole thing on the kitchen floor. Fortunately, it landed mostly right-side up, but the presentation was a bit more like a bowl of hash than a tart of garden produce.