Tomato and Feta Crostata

Summer hasn’t even officially started but don’t you kind of want it to last forever?

That’s what one bite of this oh so summery Tomato and Feta Crostata had me thinking. Juicy, sun-ripened tomatoes, lots of sweet sautéed onions, creamy feta cheese all wrapped up in a rustic flaky pastry—every bite confirms the magic of summer food!

Even though it’s not really tomato season yet, I was able to find a few great ones—that’s what you want for this tart where the tomatoes are everything, so buy the best you can—if you can find heirlooms those would be amazing here and gorgeous to look at too!

This tart is amazing as a special “side”, as a lunch or brunch dish or even as the main course for a light warm-weather dinner, paired with a salad and some crusty bread. No matter when you serve it, I guarantee it’s going to be a hit!

You start by making a simple butter/flour pastry crust in the food processor.

While that’s chilling, you sauté a generous amount of onions with some fresh parsley—

And slice those beautiful tomatoes, sprinkling on some salt, pepper and olive oil in the process.

When the dough is ready, you roll it out and place it on a piece of parchment over an inverted sheet pan, then simply layer on the onions,

Feta

And tomatoes in the process.

Next, you fold up the dough around the tomatoes

Brush on a little egg wash

And bake.

So pretty!

And flavorful!

Tastes just as good as it looks!

It’s not exactly the neatest thing to cut but it’s so super delicious that I don’t think anyone will mind—my crew couldn’t have cared less!

After the non-summer summer of last year, don’t you think we all deserve a double portion??!!! (of both summer and this amazing tart, lol!)

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Tomato and Feta Crostata

Makes 4-6 servings, depending on whether this is a main or side

You will need a food processor for the dough.

Prep Time for Crust: 10 minutes, plus one hour chilling time; Prep Time for filling: 25 minutes; Bake Time: 30-35 minutes

Ingredients

For the dough

• 1 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour

• ½ teaspoon kosher salt

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

• 3 tablespoons ice water

For the tart

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 3 medium onions, diced (I used Vidalia)

• Small handful of fresh parsley, minced

• Kosher salt and black pepper

• 3 large ripe beefsteak tomatoes, (about 1 pound), cored and sliced into ½-inch slices

• Extra virgin olive oil

• 6 ounces crumbled feta

• 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk for the egg wash

• Extra minced parsley for decorating the tart

The Recipe

1. To make the dough: Place the flour, and salt in the bowl of the food processor fitted with the metal blade and pulse to combine. Add the butter and toss it around to coat the cubes with the flour. Pulse the mixture just until the butter is the size of peas. With the motor on, pulse the ice water in through the feed tube, stopping just before the dough starts to form a ball. Turn the dough onto a floured board and flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

2. While the dough is chilling, heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat and add the onions, parsley and a pinch or two of salt and pepper. Sauté until the onions are tender and beginning to brown, stirring often. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool a bit.

3. Place the tomatoes on a baking sheet, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and drizzle them with a little olive oil. Set aside.

4. Preheat oven to 450ºF. Turn a rimmed sheet pan upside down and place a piece of parchment paper on it. Flour the board again and roll the dough out into an 11 or 12 inch circle. Spread the onions across the dough, leaving a 1 ½-inch border all the way around. Sprinkle the cheese evenly across the top of the onions and arrange the tomato slices, overlapping them in a concentric circles till you’ve used up all the tomatoes. Fold the edges of the dough up and over the tomatoes, crimping them down so they lie flat. Brush the dough with the egg wash.

5. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown. Let sit on the pan for about 5-7 minutes to set up and then sprinkle with the parsley, cut into slices and serve.

6. You can definitely make this early in the day and serve later. Leave the tart on the inverted pan and just pop into the oven at 350ºF for about 10-12 minutes before you are ready to serve.

Enjoy!

Note: Recipe adapted from Modern Comfort Food by Ina Garten. I stayed true to the pastry but changed the filling a lot.