Tomato and Goats Cheese Tarts

It's nearly the end of March, and it's time for the last of our Barefoot Bloggers recipes. I love being part of this group because it is making me attempt things that I would not otherwise try, and I am discovering recipes that I will return to over and over again. Today's recipe, Tomato and Goat's Cheese Tarts (and last week's Brownie Pudding) will be among the few things about this month that I am keen to revisit. My elder darling daughter has been diagnosed with whooping cough / pertussis, so we are in quarantine again... (as an aside - it is starting to feel a little biblical around here with all the plagues visiting our house - I'll let you know if frogs or locusts appear). The up side of this is lots of time in the kitchen.

I halved the recipe as a lunch for the two of us. And luckily for me, this is my kind of recipe. It is the sort of thing that I always order when I am out at a cafe. Tasty, and big on flavour, the crunch of the pastry is offset by both the creaminess of the goats cheese and the slippery cooked tomato. It is also endlessly modifiable according to your tastes and preferences (mushrooms, smoked salmon, provencal vegetables, pesto, etc are all possible additions / substitutions). Next time, I make this combination, I will throw some pinenuts into the goats cheese mix for an extra bit of texture and nuttiness. This recipe would also be wonderful for entertaining because it looks and tastes great, and plates so easily. You could also make tiny bite-size tasrts as an hors d'oeuvre.

The Barefoot Bloggers are a group of blogging cooks who whip up a couple of recipes each month from Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. This week's choice was from Anne Strawberry - who is clearly a woman with tastes similar to mine. Merci beaucoup chere Anne! If you want to see how the other Barefoot Bloggers found this recipe check out the blogroll here.

Tomato and Goat's Cheese Tarts
From Ina Garten: Back to Basics

2 sheets puff pastry, defrosted
Good olive oil
4 cups thinly sliced yellow onions (2 large onions)
3 large garlic cloves, cut into thin slivers
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons dry white wine
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan, plus 50g shaved with a vegetable peeler
120g garlic-and-herb goat cheese (I could only get plain, so I mixed in an Italian spice mix)
1 large tomato (or 2 small), cut into thick slices
3 tablespoons julienned basil leaves

Using an 18cm saucer or other round object as a guide, cut 2 circles from the sheet of puff pastry, discarding the scraps. Repeat with the second pastry sheet to make 4 circles in all. Place the pastry circles on 2 sheet pans lined with parchment paper and refrigerate until ready to use.
Preheat the oven to 210F.

Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium to low heat and add the onions and garlic. Saute for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are limp and there is almost no moisture remaining in the skillet. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, the wine, and thyme and continue to cook for another 10 minutes, until the onions are lightly browned. Remove from the heat.

Using a sharp paring knife, score a 1/4-inch-wide border around each pastry circle. Prick the pastry inside the score lines with the tines of a fork and sprinkle a tablespoon of grated Parmesan on each round, staying inside the scored border.

Place 1/4 of the onion mixture on each circle, again staying within the scored edge. Crumble 1 ounce of goat cheese on top of the onions. Place a slice of tomato in the center of each tart. Brush the tomato lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with basil, salt, and pepper. Finally, scatter 4 or 5 shards of Parmesan on each tart.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown. The bottom sheet pan may need an extra few minutes in the oven. Serve hot or warm.

Pappa Al Pomidoro - A Fantastic Tomato Soup

This soup has been naging me to make it for weeks. It was one of the December choices for the Barefoot Bloggers (thanks Natalie from Burned Bits), but we were travelling and it was impossible. Not physically impossible. I did have access to a kitchen from time to time however there just was no way that I was going to give up being spoiled and not cooking while on holidays. I'm sure every mother in the world would have done the same. Believe me when I tell you that there is an inordinate pleasure sometimes in not being responsible for dinner for days at a time. And so much less washing up.....

So I planned to make this soup ASAP after our return, but it was hot. Far too hot to contemplate a traditional warm Italian soup with crunchy oven-baked topping. I made some cold soups instead. But then this week, in the middle of what is traditionally our most stifling month in Sydney, the weather suddenly cooled off to the point where a bowl of soup was a wonderful and welcoming thing. And this soup was particularly warm and welcoming. I am so very glad that it kept nagging at the back of my mind, because I will make this soup again and again. I did change things ever so slightly - I had bacon in the fridge and no pancetta, but in future I don't think I will bother with either. The croutons and basil were topping enough. I also blended the soup in the pot with my stick blender, mostly because I had assumed the soup would be blended at some point (naughty naughty not reading recipe all the way through), and had been very haphazard in my vegetable chopping. Blending it really prettied it up, and I think I would blend it again in the future. And as for the flavour, it is mouth-watering - it will remind you why tomato soup is such a classic.

If you are in the mood for soup, check out the Souper Sunday round-up from Deb at Kahakai Kitchen - there is a growing band of soup-lovers arriving at her site each week. Incidentally, I served it with corn bread - recipe to follow later this week.

Pappa Al Pomidoro
from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics

Ingredients
1/2 cup good olive oil
2 cups chopped yellow onion (2 onions)
1 cup medium-diced carrots, unpeeled (3 carrots)
1 fennel bulb, trimmed, cored, and medium-diced (1 1/2 cups)
4 teaspoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
3 cups (3 cm) diced ciabatta cubes, crusts removed
4 x 400g cans crushed tomatoes
4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves (I halved this because the kids don't like things too 'herby')
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

For the topping:
3 cups (3cm) diced ciabatta cubes
50g thickly sliced pancetta, chopped (or leave out)
24 to 30 whole fresh basil leaves
3 tablespoons good olive oil, plus more for serving
Salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, fennel, and garlic and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until tender. Add the ciabatta cubes and cook for 5 more minutes. Add the tomatoes to the pot along with the chicken stock, red wine, basil, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper. Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat, and allow to simmer, partially covered, for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C. For the topping, place the ciabatta cubes, pancetta, and basil on a sheet pan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss well. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 to 25 minutes, until all the ingredients are crisp. The basil leaves will turn dark and crisp, which is perfectly fine. Reheat the soup, if necessary, beat with a wire whisk until the bread is broken up. Stir in the Parmesan and taste for seasoning. Serve hot sprinkled with the topping and drizzled with additional olive oil.

Andalusian Gazpacho for A Souper Sunday

Sunday is usually the day when I cook nothing. Breakfast chez nous is pretty haphazard (ie help yourselves to cereal, toast, juice, etc) unless we have had other people's kids for a sleepover. Then we usually go out for lunch, and dinner is officially "fend for yourselves". This can mean that the kids eat anything from boiled rice and scrambled eggs tossed together, to toasted sandwiches to a bowl of cereal, to whatever leftovers are hanging around the fridge. All very low key.

Obviously feeling a similar vibe from thousands of kilometres away, Deb from Kahakai Kitchen launched a great idea a few weeks ago - Souper Sundays. Anything goes as long as you eat it with a spoon. Given the weather here and personal "no cook" preferences for Sundays, I have picked a traditional Spanish gazpacho for this week. All the work is done by the blender, and then the fridge. The end result - a delicious icy tomato-ey soup. Perfect for a light dinner or as part of a bigger meal. Just make sure you get top quality bread and olive oil for the gazpacho. There is no hiding the flavours - so you need to go for the best. This recipe comes from a Williams Sonoma cookbook called "Barcelona" by Paul Richardson. The first night, I ate it garnished with capsicum and cucumber; the leftovers I had garnished with boiled egg. For my money, the boiled egg worked better because of the texture contrast. (And incidentally, the easiest way to peel tomatoes is to pour boiling water over them into a bowl and let them sit in it for a couple of minutes. The skin will come away very easily. To seed a tomato, split it in half and squeeze out the seeds - or scoop them with a teaspoon. )


Gaspatxo Andalus
from "Barcelona" by Paul Richardson. Serves 6-8.

11 slices day-old coarse country white bread (about 315g total weight), crusts remove
2 tbl sherry vinegar
1.5 kg ripe tomatoes, peeled and seeded
1/2 yellow onion, chopped into chunks
1 cucumber, peeled, halved, seeded and cut into chunks
1 red capsicum, in cored, seeded and chopped into chunks
1 cup good quality olive oil

Garnishes: (choose which appeal to you)
cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
capsicum, seeded and diced
hard boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
serrano ham, finely chopped

Place 9 slices of bread into a food processor. Sprinkle the vinegar over the top. Then add the tomatoes, cucumber, capsicum, 2/3 cup olive oil, and 1 cup water. Pulse until smooth. Add more water according to whether you prefer the souper more or less thick. Pulse again. Season to taste with more salt and vinegar if desired.

Cover and refrigerate until well-chilled - two hours at least. Meanwhile, chop the remaining two slices of bread into 1cm dice. Warm the remaining oil in a frying pan. Add the bread cubes and fry until golden brown on all sides - about 3 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain.

Just before serving, put the gazpacho in a serving bowl and add a handful of ice cubes. Offer your choice of garnishes in small bowls with the soup.

Cherry Tomato Crumble - Why Didn't I Think Of That?

In light of my public commitment to reduce the amount of food waste in this house, I am having to keep an extra close eye on the vegetable drawer. This is definitely the place in my house where things can get pretty ugly. (Don't judge; I know I am not the only one!). So after I made the Kylie Kwong lively tomato salad, I wound up with some leftover cherry tomatoes and I was determined to use them before they went off. Cherry tomatoes don't lend themselves to quite as many uses as regular tomatoes, although the kids will sometimes take them to school as a snack. But, in the funny way that planets will align sometimes, I spotted a recipe for a cherry tomato crumble when I was writing up the beetroot salad. The perfect solution!

Cherry tomato crumble (or cherry tomato crisp as Martha calls it) struck me as such a blindingly obviously wonderful idea that I wanted to make it quick smart. And it was great. Big thumbs up from all the family, even the family members who generally don't like cooked tomatoes. And even better - the leftovers from this leftover meal were perfect tossed through some pasta the next day.

Cherry Tomato Crisp

adapted from "Great Food Fast" from the Kitchens of Martha Stewart Living

2 slices white bread

1/4 cup grated parmesan

2 tbls shredded fresh parsley

1 tbl olive oil

1 garlic clove, chopped

5 cups cherry tomatoes (or whatever you pull out of the bottom of the crisper)

Preheat oven to 200C. Combine bread, parmesan, parsley, olive oil and garlic in a food processor. Pulse until bread is coarsely chopped - cubes about the size of dice is what you want.

Arrange the cherry tomatoes in a single layer in a baking dish. Sprinkle with the crumbs. Bake until the crust is browned and the tomatoes are tender, about 20 mins.