The best tomato tart you'll make all year
is this one
Hello and welcome to Home Movies Tuesday! If you’ve found your way over by some miracle but are not yet subscribed, here, let me help you with that:
Hello and welcome to mid-August. I hope everyone is making “the most” out of the best, slowest, longest summer month.
Yesterday I went to The Boat House and had the dreamiest 5 p.m. date night dinner at near-golden hour. I got shrimp cocktail, baked clams, iceberg salad and a chicken paillard (larger review on my Instagram bc this newsletter is getting “too long for email”). It was all as good as it had to be given the location, maybe even better. Helen Rosner had a good write up of it a few weeks back (she also did a nice review of my friend Anoop’s spot, Strange Delight—go if you haven’t already!). Not restaurant related, but I also liked this from
about Substack culture and how they (a tech company) are changing what it means to call yourself a writer. I’m resisting the urge to jump into the comments with opinions (I’ll let someone else do that now, internet discourse is a young person’s game) but know, of course, I have them. This also tickled me: The secondhand re-telling from about how his friend came to First Bloom and refused the (free) slice of zucchini bread made by yours truly. You would never!!
This week on Home Movies, it’s the second best use of tomatoes I can think of: a Tomato Tart with Garlic and Capers (the first being eating tomatoes like an apple with flaky salt).
The press-in crust is simple, elegant, crunchy, peppery and full of so much Parmesan (sponsor me!). The filling is juicy, salty, tangy, tender and full of so many…tomatoes. Add some garlic and capers and a bit of crushed red pepper flake, if you like. There’s also olive oil, salt and pepper, and when you take it out of the oven, a small tiny splash of vinegar. That’s really it. Cheese and tomatoes, we know. But one thing I will say about this recipe that I think is really nice, is that: it works. Every time. It’s about as unfussy and generally forgiving as it gets. Okay one other thing: you can use bad tomatoes. It’s mid-August, so it shouldn’t be a problem, but sometimes it is. Just nice to know that even the B- and below tomatoes will thrive here.
As a note on equipment, this tart will look nicer and be easier to make, serve, and eat with the help of a tart pan with a removable bottom. If you’re on the fence about buying one, I'd really urge you to add it to your “yes, I do actually need this” list of kitchen tools. To make you feel better about the purchase, know you can also make the Blueberry Cornmeal Tart using the same pan, which I know you want to if you haven’t yet already. Summer, what bliss!
Other tomato recipes you’ll want to make this week: these summer beans (use wax, romano or string beans) cooked in jammy tomatoes, this gloriously spicy vinegar chicken served over tomatoes, or tomatoes dressed simply in anchovy and fennel. If you’re looking for a tomato-forward pasta, the eggplant pasta (lest we forget) uses a pint of sungolds, or try the roasted tomato bucatini (a.k.a. Wednesday Night Pasta) in Dining In.
For the full recipe, read on.
Director: Doron Max Hagay / Producer: Graham Mason / Photography Director: Alex Bliss / Audio: Yves Albaret / Camera Operator: Daniel Rampulla / Camera Operator: Johnny Frohman/ Editor: Maya Tippett / Graphics: Gordon Landenberger
Tomato Tart with Garlic and Capers
Makes one 9-inch tart, serves 4—6
When deciding I wanted to make a tomato tart, I knew I wanted this to be a quick, throw-together affair. That meant no “salt the tomatoes to draw out the moisture,” no crust that needed to be chilled or rolled out, nothing to delay me from having crisp, cheesy crust with a simple layer of softened, jammy, garlicky tomatoes as soon as possible. I’m happy to report that this one, with its peppery crust (which I’ve been told tastes like a Cheez-It or “a refined Dorito,”) is worth the price of admission alone. An excellent and versatile vehicle for many savory summertime tarts, it’s tomatoes that it was truly born to be with, absorbing the juiciness without becoming soggy, staying crunchy and crisp against all odds. A number of things could be added here to your tomatoes, but I like thin-but-not-Goodfellas-thin slices of raw garlic and capers.
I give the option to make this in a tart pan or a pie plate, but it’s really best in the tart pan. Take this as your sign from the universe to finally purchase one. You’ll use it all the time, at the very least, for this recipe. Worth it, I promise.
For the crust:
6 tablespoons/3 ounces/85g unsalted butter
1 cup/145g all-purpose flour
¼ cup/45g coarse or medium grind polenta or cornmeal
1 cup/50g lightly packed finely grated parmesan cheese
1½ teaspoons/6g kosher salt
1 teaspoon/4g sugar
Freshly ground black pepper
For the tart:
2 pounds/900g small tomatoes,* thinly sliced
2–4 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons capers (optional), roughly chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar, red wine vinegar, or white wine vinegar
Herbs/parmesan, for serving
1. Make the crust: Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. In a small pot or skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Whisking occasionally, scrape up the browned bits as they form and continue to cook the butter until it smells like popcorn, 3–5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.
3. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, polenta, parmesan, salt, and sugar. Add 2 tablespoons water, plenty of black pepper, and pour the butter over. Using your hands, mix until well combined. The dough will be slightly sticky, but that’s okay
4. Press the dough into a 9-inch tart pan or regular (not a deep-dish) pie plate, at first making sure the sides are evenly packed, then press a nice, even layer on the bottom. Prick all over with a fork or tip of a knife.
5. Bake until golden brown on the sides and, most important, on the bottom (this is your chance to crisp up the bottom!), 20–25 minutes.
6. Set the crust aside and leave the oven on. (You can bake this shell ahead of time, if you like. Store it wrapped well at room temperature for up to 2 days.)
7. Assemble the tart: Arrange the tomato and garlic slices onto the parbaked shell in a nice, even layer, seasoning with pinches of salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes as you go. Top with capers (if using), then drizzle everything with 2 tablespoons olive oil, seasoning again with salt and pepper.
8. Place the tart pan on a sheet pan, return to the oven, and bake until the tomatoes are jammy and starting to brown and caramelize a touch on top, 55–60 minutes.
9. Remove the tart from the oven, splash with the vinegar, give it another drizzle of olive oil and let cool slightly before slicing. Serve with grated/shaved parmesan and some fresh herbs on top, if you’d like.
*The beauty of this tart is that it’s a great way to use up all your August tomatoes, sure, but it’s also shockingly great with out-of-season, available 365-style hothouse vine tomatoes. Whichever you use, try to pick the ones that are on the small side (think golf ball or tangerine), and throw in a few Sungolds, cherry, or grape tomatoes for good measure and textural contrast.
**The tart is best baked and enjoyed the day of, but is still excellent at room temperature the next day.
I rotate my jewelry out every now and then, mostly when I have an occasion to swap, I get bored or buy something new. This necklace has been on me for months. The vest is vintage Issey Miyake I found at a vintage store years ago— This one is new and sort of similar.
Here’s my weekly plug for you to buy a scale, even if you’re baking like once a year. I’ve had mine for YEARS. It’s a perfect low-stakes small investment that you’ll use all the time. I promise.
This is the polenta I use in the tomato tart crust. It’s on the coarser side (you can use coarse or medium-grind for this crust), and milled in The Catskills near First Bloom, where we stock it.
Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt. Essential for baking, but also general seasoning, it’s truly “the only salt.” I’ve heard reports that this is hard to find in some places? If so, Jeff Bezos sells it and will deliver it right to your house.
This is the Nordic Ware Tart Pan with removable bottom. You might not think you need it, but…you do.
I love this tart 🙌🏻
Not sure if you’ll read this, but I made this tart tonight. Oh my god! It was the best thing we’ve eaten in a long time. Not even exaggerating, not one bit! That crust. THAT CRUST! The garlic slices. We were almost weeping. Thank you a million times for this one. 🍅❤️