Tomato, pesto, and goat cheese galette

6 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
8½ ounce Puff pastry
(half 17-ounce package)
⅓ cup Pesto; homemade
(or store-bought)
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese; plus 1 teaspoon
(freshly grated - divided use)
3 mediums Ripe tomatoes
4 ounces Chilled goat cheese*; to 5 oz.
(crumbled & chilled)
½ cup Nicoise olives; pitted
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Extra-virgin olive oil
3 Fresh basil leaves; shredded
(to 4 tablespoons)

Directions

* Preferably Montrachet

To prepare crust: You will need a 10- or 11-inch tart pan. Take a sheet of puff pastry from freezer and defrost for 30 minutes. Position the oven rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Unfold pastry and place on floured surface. Roll out pastry to a 14-inch square or 4 inches larger than tart pan. Using the bottom of the pan as a guide, cut a circle 2 inches larger than pan. You can bake scraps and use for garnish if desired.

Place dough over rolling pin and carefully lay into tart pan. Fold over about 1 inch of the dough to form an edge. Prick the bottom and side of the pastry at 1-inch intervals with a fork. Bake for 15 minutes or until light golden brown.

Remove tart from oven. Line a large cookie sheet with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Place tart pan in center of cookie sheet.

Spread the pesto over the pastry. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the parmesan over the pesto.

Wipe the tomatoes with a damp paper towel. Core and cut into ¼- inch slices. Starting at the outer edge of the pastry shell, arrange the tomatoes in concentric circles, overlapping each slice slightly. You should have 2 circles.

Crumble the goat cheese over the tomatoes. Distribute the olives on top, then sprinkle with the remaining 1 teaspoon parmesan cheese. Grind some black pepper over the top and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake the tart for 15 minutes, or until goat cheese begins to melt. If the rim becomes too brown, cover it with strips of aluminum foil.

Just before serving, garnish the top of the tart with the shredded basil.

The tart can be served warm or at room temperature.

To store, cover leftover tart with a piece of wax paper, then aluminum foil, and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Reheat before serving. Makes 6 servings.

The superb flavors in this simple tart derive from quality ingredients -- the freshest tomatoes, fragrant fresh basil leaves, imported nicoise olives, Montrachet goat cheese, and extra-virgin olive oil. All of these luxurious ingredients are baked ina delicate puff pastry crust. I doubt that there will be a morsel left.

Recipe adapted from "Great Pies & Tarts" by Carole Walters; published in The Oregonian; Portland, Or.; Jan 26, 1999; Per serving: Calories: 420 (9% from protein, 22% from carbohydrate, 69% from fat) Protein: 9 grams Total fat: 33 grams Saturated fat: 7 grams Cholesterol: 12 mg Sodium: 678 mg Carbohydrate: 23 grams Fiber: 1 gram Exchanges: ½ vegetable, 11/2 starch, ½ meat, 6 fat.

Recipe by: Adapted from "Great Pies & Tarts" by Carole Walters Converted by MM_Buster v2.0l.

Related recipes