Ricotta and tomato tart

Ricotta and tomato tart

I had already seen this recipe in Bill Granger’s ‘bills Sydney food’ but only recently I got an opportunity to prepare it. I love the beautiful colours that go together: tomato-red, parsley-green, ricotta-white...from the moment you look at it you start devouring it with your eyes. Great dish for a spring or summer day. Let’s use up all these beautiful tomatoes that are so abundant at this time of the year.

The Weekend Herb Blogging event which is being hosted by Haalo this week just seemed the right occasion to present you with the recipe. It has tomatoes, spinach/rocket, and parsley. The original recipe asked for a puff pastry base but I decided to use something a bit lighter and I made this fabulous cornmeal pastry base which was prepared by Ana who is the owner of the blog Kitchen Space. This base is delicious and nicer than puff pastry in my opinion – perfect with the filling. One thing I like doing when I bake pastry is to season the tin with salt and black pepper before I put the pastry in. I find that it works beautifully well.

We all approved it at home and I served it with watercress and rocket salad. Just a great and light meal.

Here’s what you need for the filling:

2 ripe tomatoes, finely sliced

Sea salt

2 cups ricotta

2 eggs, lightly beaten

50ml cream

¼ cup finely grated Parmesan (I added ½ cup)

Pinch of ground nutmeg

Freshly ground black pepper

1 cup shredded rocket/baby spinach

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

Place tomatoes in a colander, sprinkle with salt and leave to drain. Place ricotta, eggs, cream, Parmesan, nutmeg, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix well. Add rocket/baby spinach and stir to combine. Cover and put it in the fridge until you need it.

For the cornmeal pastry base as copied from Ana’s blog:

2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup whole-grain pastry flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons water

For the crust:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Combine cornmeal, pastry flour, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to incorporate. Add butter and oil and pulse about 20 times, until mixture resembles small pebbles. Add water and pulse until mixture forms loose dough. Remove dough from processor and press into bottom and about 1/8-inch up the sides of a 9-inch tart pan with a detachable rim. Press aluminium foil into the bottom and sides of the pan on top of the dough and weigh down with uncooked rice or pie weights. Place tart pan on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and remove rice and foil. The only thing I (Valentina) made different was to beat one egg and brush the pie crust with it – it seals the pastry really well. Return to oven and bake for an additional 5 minutes, or until no longer shiny and wet. Remove from oven and let cool.

Whilst the base is cooling remove the filling from the fridge. Once the base has cooled off spread the filling on it and arrange the tomato slices over the top of the filling. Bake in the oven for at least 35 minutes or until golden. Serve sprinkled with chopped parsley and freshly ground black pepper.