Good afternoon! It's tomato season here on the farm, and we're celebrating that in a number of ways. One of those ways is to use them in thoughtfully on our menus. Our farm dinners seek to capture a moment in place and time on the farm, and towards that goal we're highlighting tomatoes in an 'amuse bouche' or small opening course for the dinners this weekend. The amuse bouche on these menus is a tomato tart. We're excited to share the tomato tart recipe with you, along with a video we were lucky enough to have the opportunity to film of the making of this recipe!
TOMATO TART
For the tart shell:
2 ounces cold water
4 ounces butter (one stick)
6 ounces flour
For the tomato jam:
One and a half pounds of ripe tomatoes such as roma, cored
One cup of sugar
Quarter cup of lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 poblano pepper, cored and seeded, diced
1/2 jalapeno pepper, cored and seeded, diced
One tablespoon organic balsamic vinegar
Five or six leaves of cilantro, chopped
For the pork belly
2-4 ounces of fresh, uncured, not smoked pork belly
Olive oil
Salt
To garnish:
Cherry tomato
Sea salt
Olive oil
Fresh basil
1. To make the tart dough, chop the butter and work it into the flour with your fingers until crumbly, leaving some chunks and discernible bits of butter. Add the cold water and mix gently with your hands until a dough forms, being careful not to over mix. Roll the dough, using flour to prevent sticking, and line a tart shell with the dough. Bake the empty tart shell at 350 for 10-12 minutes until fully baked. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature.
2. To make the jam, place the diced, cored tomatoes, sugar, diced peppers and balsamic, salt and lemon juice in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan and cook for about 30-40 minutes on medium until thickened. Cool.
3. To cook the pork belly, dice it and saute it in a pan with a little olive oil and salt until fully cooked but not too crispy. The fat should be nicely rendered and the pork belly should be beginning to crisp but not be dried out. Season with salt. Set aside.
3. To assemble the tart, fill the shell 2/3 of the way with the tomato jam. top with the pork belly and then slice the cherry tomatoes thinly and shingle them over the top of the tart to cover it. Drizzle with olive oil.
4. Hand tear the basil into very small pieces and sprinkle over the top of the tart. Lastly, sprinkle the tart lightly with crunchy sea salt such as Maldon or fleur de sel. Serve immediately.
To watch a video of this recipe created by @lanyapcookery you can go to YouTube and find it here:
Best wishes from the Elkstone Farm Kitchen!
Chef Russell
