A friend messaged the other day and said that night on the patio when we were all sitting outside and eating dinner and drinking beer was the best night of the summer, and I knew exactly what she meant. Those moments really are the best. A little bit of booze, a little bit of food, that is what today's recipe is all about. Get up do it.
Summer is in full swing, and the produce in grocery stores and farmers market is at its peak this time of year. There is nothing better than the tomatoes, so I thought, let's create a recipe that features the absolute beauty and variety of all of the tomatoes that are in season this time of year. I have pulled together a ton of different beautiful cherry tomatoes in all of their colorful glory and today we are going to make a beautiful goat cheese tomato tart, reminiscent of happy, bountiful summer nights. Seriously, you won't want to miss this one.
Here are some of my favorite food styling tips from this episode:
Create Texture and Movement
I've put just a slice of brown parchment paper over the top. I will sometimes use a white parchment paper but in this case I just really like the depth of the brown, and it adds a little bit of color. I like to take the parchment paper, snip it into, you know, not a perfect square, because I always like that kind of movement, and the imperfection and lived-in look of a slightly skewompous piece, and then I'm actually going to give this some texture with a quick crumble.
I'm gonna squeeze a couple of these tomatoes so that the seeds burst out and add just a little bit of extra movement and size and shape to the top of my crust.
Brush the edges of your tart with egg and sprinkle with a little bit of sesame seed for added texture. This gives it a little bit of interest so that it's just screaming at you from the picture.
Add a little extra honey and salt.
Go For Color
Look for tomatoes that have variation in color for visual interest. Try cherry tomatoes and keep the little greens on top to really pull the eye right into the picture. Slice a few of these right in half down the center to get a little bit of that seed peeking through and just to give a little bit of a surprise when we look at the way that it all comes together.
I love using strawberry tomatoes. They come pre-packed with the little vines still attached. I always like to leave the vines attached because there's something so beautiful about that visual cluster being stuck on top of your recipe, but they're really, really sensitive, so I like to snip them right down the center and very, very gently I'll lift these and transfer them over here.
With the brown parchment and the red tomatoes, the actual design and colors look beautiful against a blue backdrop.
Add Visual Interest
- Use round or square puff pastry, depending on the shape of your tart. This one is round and formed into a heart shape. Turn up the edges and press with your fingers all the way around for a gentle crust.
Look for tomatoes that have variation in color for visual interest. Try cherry tomatoes and keep the little greens on top to really pull the eye right into the picture. Slice a few of these right in half down the center to get a little bit of that seed peeking through and just to give a little bit of a surprise when we look at the way that it all comes together.
I love using strawberry tomatoes. They come pre-packed with the little vines still attached. I always like to leave the vines attached because there's something so beautiful about that visual cluster being stuck on top of your recipe, but they're really, really sensitive, so I like to snip them right down the center and very, very gently I'll lift these and transfer them over here.
Use a round honey pot shaped honey drizzler- this shape works best.
Final Touches
To evoke a sense of freshness on the baked tart, slice a few fresh tomatoes, arrange them on top in little clusters, and it will scream with a fresh beautiful summer farmhouse look.
Add a little bit of flour because I just want this to look like it just came out of a kitchen where it was made with loving care.
SInce tomatoes went in the recipe, toss a few tomatoes around the edges of the finished tart.
Put a knife in the shot, along with a small bottle of olive oil since they both make sense in this shot.
Garnish with some fresh herbs, and pick individual leaves and decide where you want them.
- 1 round puffed pastry
- 8-12 oz softened goat cheese
- 4-6 Tbsp honey
- 24 oz cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 egg, well beaten
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
- salt and pepper, to taste
- fresh mint, basil or fennel