Rustic Tart with Roasted Peppers & Tomatoes

One of my goals when I started this blog was to learn how to make a savory tart. It seems like the perfect thing to do with seasonal vegetables. I studied several different types of tart crusts and galette crusts. Then, I came across a recipe that used puff pastry for the crust. Yes, puff pastry, that stuff you can find in the freezer section of almost any grocery store. Thaw it, roll it out the way you like, and you have a nice buttery crust.

I have been reading The Improvisational Cook by Sally Schneider. I really like it because each recipe starts with a basic recipe and then there are several things you can do with that basic recipe. I love learning new techniques and then improvising; so, I am really enjoying this cookbook.

One of the master recipes is for slow cooked tomatoes. I had some tomatoes in my box and so I sprinkled salt, pepper, olive oil, and a bit of sugar on them and cook them at 325 degrees for about 2 hours.

Another master recipe was for magic peppers. These are red and/or yellow peppers cooked at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes. The thing that make the peppers magic is the heat and also the seasoning. Ms. Schneider recommends the following spices singly or in combination: fresh thyme or rosemary; fennel, cumin, or cracked coriander seeds; sweet-picante paprika or smoky pimenton de la Vera from Spain.

I had some Hungarian sweet paprika so I sprinkled some on the peppers along with olive oil and salt and pepper.

I assembled the tarts -- adding a bit of sliced shallots and an extra sprinkling of olive oil and kosher salt on top. I baked the tarts at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes.

And, then I had these delicious tarts. This is a really easy recipe and it looks like you had to take a cooking class to learn how to make it. I think to simplify this recipe you could roast the tomatoes and peppers together at 450 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Serve it with a basic green salad. And, look, it's like you're dining at the Cafe at Chez Panisse without having to travel to Berkeley.

Rustic Tart with Roasted Peppers & Tomatoes

Adapted from The Improvisational Cook by Sally Schneider

1 pound ripe tomatoes

A pinch of sugar

3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

4 large red or yellow peppers, or a combination

Black pepper

Seasonings, singly or in combination, such as fresh thyme or rosemary; fennel, cumin, or cracked coriander seeds; sweet-picante paprika or smoky pimenton de la Vera from Spain

1/2 of a 14 ounce package of frozen puff pastry dough

1 shallot, thinly sliced

NOTE: I think you can roast the tomatoes and peppers together at 450 degrees for 30 minutes and then add them to the tart. This would be a good way to turn this into a weekday dinner.

1. Thaw 1/2 of the dough in the package according to instructions on the container, preferably in the refrigerator for several hours. Return the rest of the dough to the freezer for later use.

2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Slice the tomatoes and sprinkle them with sugar, salt, and extra virgin olive oil. Roast for about 2 hours, until they have lost most of their liquid and are just beginning to brown. Take tomatoes out and set aside.

3. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Chop each pepper into four pieces and remove the seeds, stem, and white membrane. Toss peppers with olive oil, salt, pepper and seasoning of choice. Arrange on a baking sheet skin down. Roast for about 30 minutes, until peppers are tender and slightly brown around the edges.

4. While peppers are roasting, cut puff pastry into 2 rectangles. Roll each piece into a square. Place the squares on a baking sheet and place in the refrigerator until vegetables are ready.

5. When vegetables are ready, take puff pastry out of the refrigerator. Lower oven heat to 400 degrees. Place vegetables in the puff pastry. Top each tart with shallots, a sprinkle of extra virgin olive oil, and some kosher salt. Fold about 1/2 of the edges of the pastry over the veggies. Back in oven until the pastry is deeply brown, about 25 minutes.

Canning Early Girl Tomatoes

The Tomato Fest here at CSA Girl is in full swing. My first project with these lovely Early Girl tomatoes was to can them.

First, I peeled the tomatoes. In order to peel them, I briefly boiled them in a pot. When I saw the skin on the tomato cracking I put them in a bowl of ice water.

Then, I slipped the skin off with my fingers. I would recommend taking the stems off first; because, when I tried to take off the stems after they were cooked sometimes the whole tomato came out of the skin stuck to the stem.

I boiled the jars, lids and tongs. I also ran my jars and lids through the dishwasher to sanitize them.

I filled each jar with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and a teaspoon of salt.

Then I filled the jars with tomatoes.

Finally, I added a label. I am craft-challenged so my label looks like a preschooler's mother's day project. But, if you are crafty you could really make your jar look good.

Then, the jars were ready to store or give away. Again, if you are crafty you could make this look really nice, put it in a basket with some pasta, a nice bottle of olive oil, fancy vinegar, a baguette and give it to someone as a gift.

Canned Tomatoes

Taken from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving by Judi Kingry and Lauren Devine

Note: Before doing any canning you should do some research on food safety regarding canning. It is important that all jars and canning supplies are clean and that the food you canned is properly processed. Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving is a good source for this information. I also like the book Homemade Living: Canning & Preserving with Ashley English.

Ingredients & Equipment

Tomatoes

Bottled lemon juice or citric acid

Salt

Canning Pint-sized Jars

Tongs

Big pot to heat and process jars

1. Prepare jars and lids by running through dishwasher or boiling. Set up a huge pot of hot water to keep the jars and lids hot. Put ice water in a large bowl to immerse tomatoes after they have been boiled.

2. Working in small batches, immerse tomatoes in a second pot of boiling water for 60 seconds or until the skins start to loosen and crack. Immediately plunge into a bowl of cold water and slip skins off.

3. Before packing each jar of tomatoes add 1 tablespoon of bottled lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the hot jar.

4. Pack tomatoes into prepared jars within a generous 1/2 inch of the top of the jar. Press the tomatoes into the jar until the space between them fills with juice, leaving 1/2 inch space at top of jar. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace (area at top of jar), if necessary, by adding more tomatoes. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then screw lid on tight.

5. Place jars in canner, or large pot of boiling water, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and leave jar in canner or pot of boiling water for 85 minutes. Remove jars, cool and store.

Homemade Quesadillas with Early Girl Salsa

The tomatoes are here! I was so excited to see these Early Girl Tomatoes in my box. My first thought was to make a pasta sauce; but, I just made that last week. I wanted to try something else with these beauties so I decided to make salsa.

I wanted to try something a little different then your basic salsa and I found a recipe in the Dona Tomas cookbook that used roasted tomatoes and dried chiles. It sounded good and I had all the ingredients in my kitchen so I decided to try it out. First, I roasted the tomatoes with some sliced white onion and a few cloves of garlic. After 20 minutes, I took out the onion and garlic and let the tomatoes roast for another hour.

I then roasted a chipotle and a guajillo pepper.

Soaked the peppers in hot water for 30 minutes.

Then, everything goes in the blender with some water and cider vinegar. And, then you have this luscious salsa.

I had some time on my hands and a craving for homemade tortillas so I began to make some corn tortillas. A couple years ago I decided I needed to learn how to make corn tortillas. I tried several different methods without getting a very good tortilla.

Then one day I bought some MaSeca brand dry masa (dry masa for tortillas) as I was unpacking it I noticed that there were instructions on the masa bag that explained how to make tortillas. The MaSeca instructions were perfect. All you do is add water and salt to the masa seca mix the ingredients until you have a ball of dough. Divide the dough into balls to form the tortillas. Then, you have to flatten the dough balls into tortillas. I use a tortilla press with a cut up plastic bag on it (so the dough doesn't stick). You could probably rig up something to flatten the tortillas; but, tortillas presses are generally inexpensive and do the job perfectly.

Then, you heat a comal (also an inexpensive item) or non-stick pan, add a tortilla, cook 50 seconds on one side and then 50 seconds on the other side. And, you have a perfect, delicious tortilla. This time I decided to add some shredded sharp cheddar to the tortilla, melt the cheese, and flip the tortilla in half to form a half moon shape.

I put some of the quesadillas on a plate with chopped avocado and salsa. You can also just dip the quesadillas in the salsa. I think of this as the Mexican version of grilled cheese and tomato soup. Que delicioso!

Salsa De La Casa

adapted from Dona Tomas: Discovering Authentic Mexican Cooking by Thomas Schnetz & Dona Savitsky

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Early girl or beefsteak tomatoes

3 to 4 cloves garlic

1/4 white onion, sliced

1 dried chipotle chile

1 dried guajillo chile

1/4 cup of cold water

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Kosher salt

1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover a cooking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the tomatoes, garlic, and onion on the baking sheet. Roast for about 20 minutes, until the edges of the garlic and onion are brown and they become soft. Remove from the oven and transfer the garlic and onion to a bowl. Return the tomatoes to the oven and continue to roast for about 1 hour until the skin blackens. Transfer the tomatoes to the bowl with the garlic and onion.

2. Place a dry skillet over medium heat. Add the chiles and roast for 1 to 3 minutes, pressing them into the pan and turning occasionally with tongs to prevent burning, until the skins are evenly charred and the chiles puff up.

3. While the chiles are hot remove the skin and seeds. Submerge in a bowl of hot water for 30 minutes. Drain the chiles, place in a blender with the 1/4 cup water and vinegar and puree until smooth. Add tomatoes, garlic, and onion. Puree until smooth and season with salt to taste.

Homemade Quesadillas

Ingredients:

MaSeca masa mix

Water

Salt

Shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 avocado, chopped

1. Make the tortillas according to instructions on MaSeca bag or use store bought tortillas. Heat a tortillas on a non-stick pan.

2. When tortilla is hot add a small handful of shredded cheese. When the cheese melts fold over tortilla. Briefly heat on both sides to make sure the cheese is completely melted and the tortilla is warm.

3. Garnish with salsa and avocado.