Tomato, Goat Cheese, and Onion Tart

I just planned on eating a modest slice of this lovely tart for dinner the other evening. But you know me. There was something about that crust, those warm juicy tomatoes, that cheese. I couldn't resist another bite.


And the third slice? I blame the Riesling.


Tomato, Goat Cheese, and Onion Tart
Be warned: this is killer good. The recipe looks long because I'm including notes on how to make the tart dough. You can use prepared pie dough (meaning frozen dough that you will thaw out and place in your tart pan; not a pie shell, which will probably overflow), but the homemade crust is what makes this tart shine. The original recipe called for 6 oz. of goat cheese, which is fine, but that gets a bit strong for my taste, so I cut it with a sprinkle of Italian blend shredded cheese at the end. You can find goat cheese in the deli section of the grocery store. I also used some small yellow pear tomatoes, split in half, to mix with the red tomato slices. Gorgeousness.

Pastry Dough
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 to 5 tablespoons ice water

Tart filling
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, very thinly sliced
4 oz crumbled goat cheese (3/4 cup)
1/2 cup shredded Italian blend cheese
1 lb plum tomatoes, thinly sliced crosswise

Prepare dough: Blend together flour, butter, and salt in a bowl with your fingertips just until most of mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Drizzle 3 tablespoons ice water evenly over mixture and gently stir with a fork until incorporated. Squeeze a small handful: If it doesn’t hold together, add more ice water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, stirring until incorporated, then test again. (Do not overwork mixture or pastry will be tough.)

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 4 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough together, with a pastry scraper if you have one, and press into a ball, then flatten into a 5-inch disk. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour. (Dough can be chilled up to 3 days.)

Assemble the tart: Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into an 11-inch round and fit into tart pan. Trim excess dough, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang, then fold overhang inward and press against side of pan to reinforce edge. Lightly prick bottom and sides with a fork.

Line tart shell with foil and fill with pie weights (or do as I did and weigh it down with a 8" round cake pan). Bake in middle of oven until pastry is pale golden around rim, about 20 minutes. Carefully remove weights and foil and bake until golden all over, 8 to 10 minutes more. Cool in pan on a rack.

While tart shell is baking, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, then cook onion with salt and black pepper to taste, stirring frequently, until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.

Spread onion over bottom of tart shell and top with goat cheese. Arrange tomatoes over cheese. Sprinkle with shredded Italian cheese and salt and pepper to taste and drizzle with remaining tablespoon oil. Put foil over edge of crust (to prevent overbrowning).

Bake until cheese starts to brown slightly, 10-15 minutes.