I know we have some time (and unpredictable weather) to muddle through before it’s actually tomato season, but since SPRINGING FORWARD we ARE officially one hour closer, right? Lose a little sleep, gain a different perspective, (#tradeoffs) I for one am too excited for the lighter later days ahead.
As we begin the slow descent OUT of soup season and into Spring (Flowers! Asparagus! Yay!), you are going to NEED this ridiculously simple, fresh tomato tart to help you along with the transition. Okay, so the produce won’t be at its peak; but a little oven-time nestled in a delicately crispy-fied puff pastry playground drizzled with garlic-basil oil and dusted with feta cheese…..can coax out the best in just about anything!
Even hard, sorta faintly pink, winter-beaten Roma tomatoes.
Oh, it’s ON.
I accept your challenge, neighborhood-grocery-store-late-winter-produce department…
It all begins with a sheet of frozen puff pastry dough, and I have to tell you, this stuff is an AMAZING invention. Total game changer, when you want to be fancy yet you have no idea what you’re doing. (Like me, when it comes to baking, OMG FOR SURE)! Easy to procure in the frozen food section of ANY grocery store, all you have to do with this is HAVE IT ON HAND! Oh yeah, and thaw out one of the sheets. Just pop it in the fridge overnight. 
Roll it out slightly, and make sure to do this on a lightly floured surface or (in my case) a piece of wax paper, cos this stuff will get sticky on you. Try to keep it as evenly square as possible…hahah……you can tell how well I did with THAT, right? Just extend it out to maybe an extra inch on each side, but no need to get too tweaky about this. It will all be perfect no matter what you do to it, I promise (within reason😜of course).
Pop your pastry onto a greased baking sheet and with a sharp knife, score the edges, creating a 1/2 inch border all the way around. Don’t cut all the way through, here. Just make a score.
Slice up 2-4 Roma tomatoes (I mean obviously, it depends on the size you can find….mine were fairly weak and scrawny) and keep them pretty thin while you’re at it. Get after some fresh basil, and chop that up into a chiffonade, simply a fancy name for stacking the leaves, rolling them up and then slicing them on the perpendicular.
Mix most of that green confetti (save the rest for garnish!) with three tablespoons of olive oil, and one finely grated garlic clove (hello microplane, you are perfect for this task). Throw in a generous pinch of kosher salt and a grind or two of black pepper.
Arrange the tomato slices over the puff pastry dough making sure to keep them inside the scored border. No escapees allowed!
Now give those ‘maters some love with a drizzle of that perfectly pungent basil oil. Just the smell of this will have you swooning.
Scatter over some crumbled feta cheese; you don’t need much, maybe a couple of spoonfuls….really! Then crack an egg, give it a good whisk-up and then brush that onto the “frame” of the pastry.
Just like that. Into a preheated 400° she goes for 18-20 minutes.
Give her a smattering of fresh basil straight out of the oven and voilà! The perfect brunch munch, to go along with some eggs, perhaps? Or serve alongside any sorta roasted any somethin’ somethin’…chicken, beef, salmon – this tart loves everyone. Perfection with a bowl of something slurpy (like this Lemony Dill Chicken Orzo Soup maybe?) or a great big beautiful salad, welcome to Spring!
RECIPE BELOW: This is so fast to put together, thanks to the peeps at Pepperidge Farm and their puffy pastry. Love this stuff. Cuts up into 6 big pieces. Truly, if you take longer than 15 minutes to get this in the oven you may need to get checked. Okay, I’m kidding. only sorta
- One 10-inch sheet frozen puff pastry, such as Pepperidge Farm. They come two to a package, so just pull one out and let it thaw in the refrigerator for a few hours (overnight is best if you can manage it).
- 3-4 Roma tomatoes (any tomato will do but you can find decent Roma's even in the dead of winter) thinly sliced
- 1 clove of garlic finely minced (or grated on a microplane)
- 2-3 (truly use as much or as little as you like) tablespoons fresh basil, finely chopped and divided
- 3 tablespoons (approx, just eyeball it) olive oil (plus a little more to grease the pan)
- 2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese (I like the tomato basil flavor but you can use whatever you like)
- 1 egg, cracked into a small bowl and well-whisked together (say that 3 times fast)
- salt and pepper to taste
- Preheat your oven to 400°
- Lightly grease a baking pan (you know, like a cookie sheet).
- In a small measuring cup, mix together the olive oil, minced garlic, about 3/4 of the basil (the rest you will save to garnish over the top) a generous pinch of salt and pepper to taste.
- On a floured surface (or a sheet of wax paper) roll out a sheet of thawed pastry dough to approximately an extra inch on either side, transfer to your greased sheet pan.
- With a sharp knife, score the edges of the pastry creating a 1/2 inch border all the way around. Don't cut all the way through.
- Arrange the tomato slices over the puff pasty in an even layer (overlapping is fine), making sure to keep them inside the border you scored.
- Drizzle the tomato slices with the garlicky olive oil mixture.
- Sprinkle over the feta cheese crumbles, taking care to keep them within the border as best you can.
- With a pastry brush, brush the beaten egg wash onto the "frame", or the scored part of the dough.
- Place into the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, depending on your oven. The edges should rise and get beautifully golden brown and puffy.
- Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the extra basil you set aside. Cut into six squares and serve warm or at room temperature.
