Heirloom tomato and feta tart

A beautiful and delicious brunch or lunch dish!

This freeform tart is easy to prepare and ideal for people who say they don’t like making pies because they find them to be too much work. In French, these rustic tarts are called galettes and they are praised for their simplicity and excellent flavour. Be sure to use ripe, in-season tomatoes for the best results.

Ingredients

For the dough

• 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup (170 g) very cold butter
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) very cold water
• 1 teaspoon (5 mL) vinegar

For the tart

• 1/4 cup (60g) Dijon or whole-grain mustard
• 2 tablespoons finely minced shallot
• 3 medium tomatoes ( approx. 1.5 lbs / 680 g)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 4 ounces (112g) feta, sliced thinly
• 1 egg yolk, beaten with 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 mL) cold water
• Fresh basil leaves, to garnish

Method

• Make the pie crust at least 90 minutes in advance of when you want to bake the tart. Combine the flour, salt and sugar in a medium bowl. Grate the very cold butter into the flour mixture and toss with your fingers, crushing any clumps of butter into the flour. Stir the cold water and vinegar together, then drizzle over the flour mixture and stir with a fork. If large dry patches remain, add a bit more water, a teaspoon (5 mL) at a time, taking care to only add just enough to make a rough dough.
• Gently fold the dough in the bowl with your hands to work it into a barely-moist, shaggy ball of dough.
• Remove the dough from the bowl and gently shape it into a disk about 3/4 inch (2 cm) thick. Cover tightly with beeswax or plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 48 hours before assembling tart.
• To make the tart, remove the dough from the refrigerator. Lightly dust both sides with flour then roll out the disk of chilled dough between two large sheets of parchment paper with a rolling pin, to form a crust that is about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick and about 12 to 14 inches (30 – 35 cm) in diameter. If the dough is sticking to the parchment, dust lightly with a bit more flour. Transfer the crust, still on the bottom piece of parchment paper, to a large baking sheet (a pizza pan is good for this).
• Preheat the oven to 400F while you assemble the tart.
• Spread a layer of mustard on the rolled-out dough, leaving an empty border around the outside of about 2 inches / 5 cm (this will be the part of the pastry that you fold over the filling later). Scatter shallots over mustard.
• Slice the tomatoes about 1/3-inch (1cm) thick and layer them, overlapping a bit, on top of the mustard. Sprinkle the tomatoes with a little salt (use truffle salt if you have it) and freshly ground pepper.
• Lay slices of feta on top of the tomatoes, tucking them partially under the tomatoes in a few places.
• Fold the border of the pastry over the filling to enclose it at the outer edge. Brush the border with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the tomatoes are tender and the pastry is a deep golden brown, about 30-35 minutes.
• Carefully transfer the tart to a serving platter and let cool for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

Serves 2 as a main course.