French Brie and Tomato Tart Recipe
Summer is the season for quick and easy meals, where nature is at its apex with an abundance of beautiful summer fruit and vegetables.
Tarts are a way of exhibiting lush and ripe produce. Strawberry tart, key lime tart and apple tart are revered for being scrummy, rich in flavour and satisfying to the sweet toothed , but, for the savory toothed like myself, I must give my allegiance to savory tarts as they give me just as much satisfaction and joy.
Tarts make the perfect picnic food, the perfect light lunch with friends and family and the perfect quick and light dinner with a side of salad.
This dish is so versatile with its endless possible combinations of ingredients. You can combine caramelized onion and goat cheese, tomato and mozzarella, spinach and feta , gorgonzola and leeks, cheddar and onions and many more; let your palate be your drive.
The beauty of this tart I have demonstrated is that if you have ingredients that work well together as a filling and you have a ready puff pastry sheet handy then you will rock and roll to get this tart ready in 5 minutes and at your table at 30 minutes. What else do we need? It’s quick, effortless and scrummy, not to mention that leftovers make a great school packed lunch.
Ingredients:
Servings: 6
- 1 package puff pastry sheet
- 4 medium tomatoes, sliced 1/4" thick
- 200 g. brie
- 1 handful black pitted olives, sliced
- 2 springs fresh oregano, leaves torn
- Cracked black pepper
- 200 ml. low fat milk
- 2 medium eggs
- 1 teaspoon salt
Method:
1. Preheat the oven at 180C at fan setting.
2. Unless the puff pastry is already rolled, roll it to a 1⁄4” thickness, then carefully place it on a 20 x 30 cm baking sheet with a removable base pressing on the base and sides gently to get rid of any air gaps.
3. Cut off any excess hanging pastry.
4. Prick the base with a fork.
5. Lay the brie and tomato alternating between them until the base is completely covered.
6. Top it with the olives and sprinkle the oregano and black pepper.
7. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and salt.
8. Pour over the tomato and brie.
9. Bake in the oven on the middle shelf for 30 minutes or until the center comes out clean when pierced with a tooth pick. Serve warm.
Tips:
Picking the base of the pastry keeps it from forming a bubble that will cause an uneven surface.
You can use a short crust pastry but you would need to blind bake* it for 15 minutes prior to placing the fillings.
You could use a bechamel sauce instead of the egg and milk.
You can create a pizza tart.
You can use any combination of herbs.
Any non dairy milk can be substituted such as almond milk.
*blind baking is achieved by pricking the base of the laid pastry with a fork, covering it with baking paper and finally placing beans in the center of the baking sheet. Bake at 180 for 15 minutes.
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 394 Calories; 27g Fat (61.6% calories from fat); 14g Protein; 24g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 105mg Cholesterol; 722mg Sodium.