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Weekend Recipe: Torta di Pomodoro —Tomato Tart

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Tomato tarts sound promising, but often recipes yield soggy crusts and fillings with very little flavor. Cook's Illustrated set out to develop a simple recipe with a flavorful and foolproof crust, a creamy base, and a topping of fragrant sliced tomatoes.

To ensure that the tomatoes didn’t leach moisture into the tart, we salted them and let them drain for half an hour on paper towels. We combined a trio of cheeses—Parmesan, ricotta, and mozzarella—with olive oil into a base layer to go under the tomatoes. Then all we had to do was spread the cheese mixture over the bottom of the baked tart shell, shingle the tomatoes on top, and bake the tart until the tomatoes were slightly wilted. Drizzling the tomatoes with a mixture of olive oil and minced garlic before baking kept them from drying out and infused them with flavor. We prefer the light flavor of part-skim ricotta here, but whole-milk ricotta can be substituted; do not use fat-free ricotta.

Torta di Pomodoro—Tomato Tart
Image courtesy of Cook's Illustrated

Torta di Pomodoro —Tomato Tart
Serves 6 to 8

INGREDIENTS

Crust:
1 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour (6 ¼ ounces)
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon table salt
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons ice water
1 ounce grated Parmesan cheese (about ½ cup)

Filling:
3 medium plum tomatoes, cored and sliced ¼ inch thick
Salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil plus 1 additional teaspoon
1 medium garlic clove, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1 teaspoon)
½ cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 ounce grated Parmesan cheese (about ½ cup)
1 ounce mozzarella cheese, shredded (about ¼ cup)
Pepper
2 tablespoons shredded fresh basil leaves

INSTRUCTIONS

Use a 9-inch fluted metal tart pan with a removable bottom for this recipe. The filling in this tart is relatively thin, so press the dough only 3/4 inch up the sides of the tart pan. We preferred the light flavor of part-skim ricotta here, but whole milk ricotta can be substituted; do not use fat-free ricotta. 

1. For the crust: Spray a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom with vegetable oil spray; set aside. Pulse the flour, sugar, and salt together in a food processor until combined, about 4 pulses. Drizzle the oil over the flour mixture and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse sand, about 12 pulses. Add 2 tablespoons of the ice water and continue to process until some of the dough begins to clump into large pieces and no powdery bits remain, about 5 seconds. If powdery bits of flour remain, add the remaining tablespoon water and pulse to incorporate, about 4 pulses. (The dough should have many little Grape-Nut-sized crumbs with a few large clumps.)

2. Dump all but 1/3 cup of the dough crumbs into the prepared tart pan and, using your hands, press the crumbs into an even layer over the tart pan bottom. Sprinkle the remaining 1/3 cup crumbs around the edge of the tart pan and press into a tidy crust edge, about 3/4 inch up the sides of the pan (the dough will be very malleable and feel a little greasy). Lay plastic wrap over the dough and smooth out any bumps or shallow areas using your palm. Place the tart pan on a large plate and freeze the dough until firm, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees.

3. Place the frozen tart shell (still in the tart pan) on a baking sheet. Gently press a piece of extra-wide heavy-duty aluminum foil that has been sprayed with vegetable oil spray against the dough and over the edges of the tart pan. Fill the shell with pie weights and bake until the top edge of the dough just starts to color and the surface of the dough under the foil no longer looks wet, about 30 minutes.

4. Remove the tart shell from the oven and carefully remove the foil and weights. Sprinkle the Parmesan evenly over the bottom of the tart shell, then return to the oven and continue to bake until the cheese is golden brown, 5 to 10 minutes. Set the baking sheet with the tart shell on a wire rack to cool slightly, about 10 minutes. (At this point the cooled shell can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and held at room temperature for up to 1 day.) Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees.

5. For the filling: Meanwhile, spread the tomatoes out over several layers of paper towels. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and let drain for 30 minutes; gently blot the tops of the tomatoes dry with paper towels before using. In a small bowl, whisk 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and the garlic together; set aside. In a separate bowl, mix the ricotta, Parmesan, mozzarella, and remaining 1 teaspoon olive oil together and season with salt and pepper to taste.

6. Spread the ricotta mixture evenly over the bottom of the cooled tart shell. Shingle the tomatoes attractively on top of the ricotta in concentric circles, starting at the outside edge. Drizzle the garlic and olive oil mixture evenly over the tomatoes. Bake the tart until the cheese is bubbling and the tomatoes are slightly wilted, 20 to 25 minutes.

7. Let the tart cool slightly on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then sprinkle with the basil. Remove the tart from the tart pan and transfer to a serving platter or cutting board. Cut into wedges and serve. (The finished tart can also be held at room temperature for up to 1 hour before serving.)

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