The Tomato, Feta & Roasted Garlic Tart (That is Definitely Not a Quiche)
Yes, it has a delicious buttery crust. And a savory eggy custard with beautiful roasted garlic and peak season tomatoes. But it’s not a quiche.
It is however, one of the best things to make when markets are overflowing with different kinds of juicy, tart and sweet tomatoes.
In this tart, the savory custard serves mainly as a glue that distributes the roasted and caramelized garlic, and holds in place the big chunks of feta and sliced tomatoes, that in the oven release their juice, mixing with the custard and resulting the perfect combination of sweet, tart and salty.
ingredients
For the Short Crust:
250g AP flour
180g (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cubed.
1 egg yolk
50ml water
1/2 tbsp Kosher salt
1 tbsp granulated sugar
For the filling:
3 eggs
200g milk
2tbsp Kosher Salt
2 tbsp freshly cracked black pepper
1 large bulb of garlic
800g sliced cherry tomatoes
2 larger tomatoes (ripe, in season) quartered
100g Feta (Crumbled)
1 cup fresh parsley leafs
instructions
Preheat your oven to 400ªF
In a bowl, combine your flour and salt. Add your cubed butter and with your fingers, pinch the butter so it gets incorporated into the flour, in bites no larger than a pea.
In another small bowl, place your egg yolk, water and sugar and combine well.
Incorporate your wet ingredients in three go’s, shaking the bowl and roughly mixing with a spatula after every small pour. The dough will look dry and unmanageable first. After pre-mixing with a spatula, use your hands to fold it and press it onto itself inside of the bowl. You’ll see how it begins to come together.
Once you have one large mass, place it in a floured countertop so you can knead it.
Get the dough in the shape of a ball, and using the palm of your hand, press the dough and slide away your hand so that you form a trail of stretched dough. You’ll do this twice, in two different directions and then you’ll re-form your dough ball. This method is called fraisage. You’ll do this two to 3 times. You’ll see that each time you gather the dough to make a ball, the dough becomes smoother and shinier. Stop after 3 to 4 times, to avoid the butter in the dough melting too much or becoming too warm.
Cover your dough ball in plastic wrap and pat so that it’s packed into a flat rectangle. Place in the fridge for 30 mins (it can go all the way to the next day) let cool.
While your dough is cooling, slice your garlic bulb in half, to expose all the cloves, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt an pepper. Cover both halfs in aluminum foil and place in the oven for 30 to 40 mins. Then remove from oven and let cool.
On a floured countertop, roll out your dough into a disk, slightly larger than your tart pan for the edges.
Butter your pan and place your disk onto it, pressing on the sides, so that the disk is fully making contact with the pan.
Line the pan with tin foil and then fill it with beans, rice or baking weights and pre'-bake in the oven for 20 mins. (This is so, while the crust is baking it has something pressing on it and it doesn’t bubble up while baking and losing it’s shape).
Afterwards, remove the tin foil with the weights, and discard. Place the pan in the oven once more for another 15 mins. It should’ve developed a nice golden color and should feel set. Let cool.
For the filling, in a bowl, whisk your eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Press your garlic bulbs so that the garlic cloves release into your mixture and then smash with a fork. Whisk to combine.
Once crust is cool, place your filling into it.
Start arranging your tomatoes and feta into the tart. The idea here is for everything to very much peak above the egg mixture, we’re not looking for full egg coverage. Then sprinkle some salt and pepper on top and place in the oven for 30 to 45 mins.
When you remove the tart from the oven, the tips of the tomatoes will have darkened a bit and your kitchen should smell of cooked tomatoes and garlic.
Dress your tart before serving with parsley leafs and a bit of olive oil. Let cool for 15 mins before serving.
