Tomato & Cheese Tarte

Another fabulous and easy way to enjoy mouthfuls of summer veggies is the simple, yet elegant tarte.

I made two tartes, both with those gorgeous Old German Heirloom tomatoes, one with fresh mozzarella and the other with Cowgirl Creamery's Mt. Tam goat cheese. For the mozzarella tarte, I added some pesto and pine nuts. Both were heavenly!

I used a frozen puff pastry sheet (thawed for 40 minutes at room temp.), cut it into three, and turned in about 1/4" of each side to create a border. I spread one tarte with pesto and then layered slices of tomato and cheese. Topped with a little salt and pepper, here's how they looked before baking:



I baked the tartes at 400 for about 15 minutes and added thin strips of basil to the mozzarella version after baking.

We enjoyed these with a spinach and raspberry salad and a nice pinot noir. Highly portable, these make a great picnic item and, being open to endless variations, are easy to make your own.