Binge NYC: A Food Blog

First off, my apologies if you visited the site yesterday and were greeted with a blank white page. Somehow, my WordPress update totally failed and erased the blog (which I had backed up the day before, MASSIVE SIGH OF RELIEF). So, we’re back. Now, onto the good stuff. This tart is phenomenal. I made it for dinner with a good friend, before I remembered she is dairy & gluten-free. Oops. Oh well, more for me. Make this baby a day in advance; the goat-cheese custard will need about 12 hours in your fridge to really firm up.

This recipe, adapted from Gourmet (September, 1998) is pretty much perfect for brunch, lunch, dinner – hell, I’ve even eaten it for breakfast. The crumbly cornmeal crust pairs well with the creamy goat cheese base, and the richness of the custard is well balanced by the sweet, slightly-roasted tomatoes. Tart heaven, this one. Start by making the crust. Sift together (or just mix) one cup all-purpose flour, three-fourths cups yellow cornmeal, and a nice large pinch of salt. Add three-fourths cups very cold, unsalted butter, and combine really well until you have a grainy, sandy mixture. This step can also be completed in a food processor, if you are all fancy (aka normal) and have a real-life adult kitchen. Add a bit of ice water if needed, and press the dough evenly across the bottom and up the sides of an 8-inch circular tart pan. Chill until firm (about twenty-minutes) and pop into a 375 degree oven, baking until the crust is just dry (about fifteen – twenty minutes). Remove from the oven, and set aside.

Meanwhile, make your custard base. Combine eight ounces goat cheese, one-half cup plain greek-yogurt, four tablespoons softened butter (I know, I know) a nice big spoonful of Herbes de Provence, and two large eggs.

Grab two large handfuls of fresh basil, and finely mince. Add to your goat-cheese mixture and season well with salt and pepper. Mix until its really smooth and lovely. I’d say don’t lick the spoon, because of the raw eggs and all, but I like to live dangerously, and damn…it’s pretty delicious.

Now pour that glorious goat-cheese mixture into your prepared crust, spreading it evenly right up to the gorgeous cornmeal edges. Thinly slice up a tomato or two and lay across the custard in a pretty pattern.

Pop into a 350-degree oven, and bake in the lower-third of the oven until the custard is nicely set up (about twenty five minutes). Let cool completely, and then chill in your fridge for at least eight-hours, preferably overnight. Once chilled, carefully remove the tart from its pan, and slice that baby up. Enjoy! I found it to be approximately as addictive as crack-cocaine (hypothetically speaking, of course). Pure goat cheese heaven.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 11th, 2009 at 1:55 pm and is filed under Baking, Brunch, Vegetarian. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.