Cherry Tomato & Three Cheeses Tart

Every year our garden has a "star," that one plant or group of plants that produces an abundance (or over abundance) of gorgeous vegetables. One year it was the bell pepper, we ate peppers stuffed every which way and ended up with jars of roasted, marinated peppers. Another year it was yellow squash. We snuck squash into nearly every dish we made and took squash wherever we went to give away.  Still another year, it was tomatillos -- they grew like weeds and I still can't figure out why they're priced in stores like some rare commodity.  Then there was the year of the Jerusalem artichokes. We had so many, my husband finally just refused to eat them.

This year our garden star is the cherry tomato. For the last three weeks, we've been harvesting about a pint a day of Sweet 100s, Yellow Pears and, my favorite, the orange Sun Gold cherry. These babies are so easy to use up. They make great snacks on their own; sauteed in a little olive oil and garlic, and you've got a tasty pasta sauce. But I wanted to find other ways to use them, so came up with my borlotti bean salad and I made this appealing and delicious tart.

And it's so, so easy. I made it more complicated by making my own ricotta cheese (which is also easy and so good) using this recipe, and I suppose you could really do it up and make your own puff pastry, but I'm not there yet.

Cherry Tomato and Three Cheese Tart

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed if frozen

1/4 cup ricotta cheese

1/4 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese

1-1/2 to 2 tablespoons pesto sauce

About a pint of cherry tomatoes

Salt and pepper, to taste

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Olive oil

Chopped fresh basil, for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. Gently roll out puff pastry on lightly floured surface to even out. With a knife, score (don’t cut all the way through) a half inch border around the outside of the pastry as if making a frame. Place scored puff pastry on a parchment-lined or lightly oiled baking sheet.

3. Drain any excess liquid from the ricotta cheese. In medium bowl, combine ricotta cheese, gorgonzola and pesto. Mix well. Spread cheese mixture evenly on puff pastry inside of border.

4. Cut cherry tomatoes in half and place cut side up, tightly side by side, inside border.  Drizzle tomatoes lightly with olive oil, sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and top with parmesan cheese. Brush 1/2-inch pastry border lightly with olive oil.

5. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until pastry is puffed and golden. Let tart cool for 5 minutes before slicing and serving. Garnish with chopped fresh basil.

Serves 4

Borlotti Bean Salad

My husband has this habit of buying mystery fruit and vegetables. When he brings these unknown items home, we have a conversation that goes something like this:

Me: What's this?
Him: It's a bean (or fruit or something equally obvious and unhelpful.)

Me: Well, what kind of bean?

Him: I'm not sure (or "I forgot.")

Me: So, what are you going to do with it?

Him: I don't know.

Yesterday he picked up a bunch of fresh, shelled, what-turned-out-to-be Borlotti beans. These tannish beans with pink splotches, about the size of kidney beans, are sometimes called cranberry beans. They're popular in Italy and Portugal, and no wonder -- their nutty flavor is delicious.

After finding out how long Borlotti beans need to cook, I came up with this salad recipe that includes roasted cherry tomatoes (the first big batch from my garden), sundried tomatoes, and a red wine vinaigrette with pesto. There was only one problem: I didn't make enough. This totally tasty recipe can easily be doubled.

For roasted cherry tomatoes:

1 pint cherry tomatoes

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large garlic clove, minced

Kosher salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cut cherry tomatoes in half. In medium bowl, mix tomatoes, olive oil and garlic. Transfer to rimmed baking sheet or pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake 45 minutes, then set aside and let cool.

For Borlotti beans:

2 cups fresh, shelled Borlotti beans

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large garlic clove, thinly sliced

1 cup water

1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper

Salt, to taste

Over medium-low heat, cook sliced garlic and olive oil until garlic is fragrant, about a minute, Stir in Borlotti beans to coat in oil. Add water and pepper and simmer, covered, until beans are soft but not falling apart, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat, salt to taste. Using slotted spoon, transfer beans into large bowl and cool.

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For the salad:
Roasted cherry tomatoes
Cooked Borlotti beans
1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes
1 tablespoon chopped basil
Red wine vinaigrette, to taste (recipe below)

In bowl with beans, add roasted tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, chopped basil and enough vinaigrette to coat (or to taste, I probably used less than half amount below.) Toss well and serve. Adjust seasonings.
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For red wine vinaigrette:
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1-1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup olive oil
1 generous tablespoon pesto

Mix the vinegar, lemon juice, honey, salt, and pepper in a blender. With the machine running, gradually blend in the oil and then the pesto.