One of my favorite things to eat in summer is a slice of good toasted bread topped with mustard and thick slices of fresh ripe tomatoes from the garden. It’s so simple, but if all of the ingredients are great, it’s a slice of heaven.
This pizza-like savory tart captures those bright, satisfying summer flavors in a slightly more refined form. Hot out of the oven, it’s startlingly delicious. It’s light enough to serve with drinks before dinner, but add a simple green salad, and you’ve got a memorable lunch.
Don’t be put off by the yeast dough for the crust — it comes together quickly, and it’s easy to handle. The topping is also a snap, the only slightly fiddly thing about it being peeling and seeding the tomatoes, but you can skip those steps if you’re short of time or patience and don’t mind a slightly more rustic appearance. A baking stone and pizza peel are useful here (and good investments in kitchen gear, I think), but not really necessary. You can get the tart in and out of the oven with a cutting board and a spatula, and a baking sheet can substitute for the stone — just make sure you roll the dough into a shape that fits, of course. If you’re going to buy a peel, consider an aluminium one, available in restaurant supply stores or online. They’re not as pretty as wood, but they’re stronger, lighter and easier to slide under the baking dough.
Recipe
(Inspired by Tomato and Mustard Tart in Salad as a Meal by Patricia Wells.)
Ingredients
For the crust:
3/4 cup (180 ml) wholewheat flour
3/4 cup (180 ml) white bread flour
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon table salt or fine sea salt
cornmeal for dusting
For the topping:
2 large or 3 medium tomatoes
1/3 cup (80 ml) Dijon-style mustard
About 1/3 cup (80 ml) minced fresh chives, parsley and basil
Extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling
Instructions
1. Place a pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven and preheat to 450F. (If you don’t have a pizza stone, you can bake the tart on a baking sheet.) Stir the sugar and yeast into 1/2 cup (120 ml) of lukewarm water. Let stand until the yeast foams, about 3 minutes.
2. In the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade or pastry blade, combine the flours and the salt and process to combine. Add the oil to the yeast mixture, stir, and then, with the motor running, gradually add the liquid to the flour, processing until it forms a sticky ball. (You may need to add another tablespoon or two of water to accomplish this.)
3. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and kneed for about a minute. Place in a bowl, cover with a cloth and let rise for about 10 minutes. (You can keep the dough in the fridge for up to 4 days — just punch it down from time to time.)
4. In the meantime, peel, seed and chop the tomatoes. Tomatoes are easy to peel if you drop them in boiling water for a minute or two until the skin begins to loosen from the flesh and split. As soon as they’re cool enough to handle, the skins will slip off easily.
5. Cut the tomatoes into quarters and seed them by squeezing them over the sink or a bowl. (Don’t wear a white shirt.) Don’t worry about getting every last seed, but do try to cut out all of the pithy core of the fruit. Chop the tomato flesh roughly and place it on several layers of paper towels to drain.
6. Roughly chop the herbs and reserve.
7. Place the dough on a floured surface and roll out into a 12-14 inch round(ish) shape. Sprinkle a pizza peel or a cutting board with cornmeal and then transfer the dough to it (or to a baking sheet if you’re not using a pizza stone). Spread the mustard all over the dough. (It will seem like a lot of mustard, but use it all.)
8. Working quickly so the dough doesn’t stick to the peel, arrange the tomatoes and herbs on top of the mustard. Sprinkle with a couple of generous pinches of kosher or coarse sea salt.
9. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the crust is crisp and golden and the topping is bubbly.
10. Remove from the oven, drizzle with your best olive oil, top with a few grinds of black pepper and serve immediately.
