Eggplant Tart (part III of the eggplant madness series)
October 15, 2007
Goodness, I sure have eaten a lot of eggplant this month. Every bite has been delicious. October ends the peak period for eggplant - so take advantage while you can. In making this tart, I finally followed the original recipe in Once Upon a Tart for tomato and eggplant tart. The tart has a subtle smokey flavor from the roasted eggplant, and the orange heirlooms I used were sweeter than the red ones they used in the cookbook.This recipe calls for two steps - making and baking a tart shell, and preparing the filling. The good news is that the tart shell is rather easy, and the recipe makes plenty for 2 tarts (I have a large tart tin so I made two). You can always freeze one lump of dough and save it for a day you are feeling like having a tart but too busy to make another batch of dough. I find that the dough lasts about 3 weeks in the freezer.
For the tart:
1 batch of Crunchy Savory Tart Crust
I substituted 1/2 cup of wheat flour in the original recipe for added texture.
For the filling:
- 3 eggs
- 1/4 c cream
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 small eggplants, sliced
- 3 vine ripened tomatoes
- 1/2 c fresh grated parmesan
- handful of basil, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Step One: Sweat eggplant slices by tossing in salt and letting them rest for 20 minutes. Bake the eggplant in the oven for 10 minutes or until golden. Take them out of the oven to cool. Reduce the oven heat to 350 degrees.
Step Two: Slice the tomatoes and let them drain in a colander while you prepare the other ingredients. I salt the tomatoes at this stage as well.
Step Three: Prebake your tart shell as directed in the tart preparation blog.
Step Four: In a blender or food processor, combine olive oil, parmesan cheese, and basil. Scrape mixture out and spread it on the bottom of the prebaked tart shell. Arrange the roasted tomatoes and eggplants on top of the cheese as shown in the picture.
Step Five: In a bowl, combine eggs, cream, salt and pepper with a wire whisk. Pour the custard over the eggplant and tomatoes. Bake the tart at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until the center stops jiggling.
Eat the tart warm out of the oven and watch your friends drool. Mmmmmm.
Labels: Eggplant, eggs, heirloom tomatoes, tart
