I love making (and eating) pastry, but for some recipes it is great not having to worry about mixing, cooling, rolling, blind baking, cooling again, filling, and baking again! So using bread as a base not only feels “lighter”, but also makes the whole process quicker and easier.

This works particularly well with sourdough as it is firm bread, so if you don’t wish to use sourdough then any good firm bread would do. Usually three decent (thick) slices will give you the 250g you need.

For this recipe I used a 500g tub of Mundella ricotta which is quite soft … there are many types of ricotta available so if you use a firm type you may need to add a little more cream (from 60g to 100g) to allow it to blend properly.

This tart is best eaten on the day it is made and makes a great light lunch, entree or light dinner served with a crisp garden salad (it is still delicious the next day but the tomatoes will wilt a little overnight in the fridge and not look their best … nothing that a little sprinkle of fresh Italian parsley wouldn’t fix!).

This is a lovely dish and I encourage you to give it a try …

Tomato Basil Ricotta Tart with Sourdough Crust

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

50 mins

Total time

1 hour 5 mins

 

Author: Gina @ The Passionate Pantry

Serves: 4 to 6 serves

Ingredients

INGREDIENTS FOR BASE

• Butter for greasing tin
• 2 medium cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 large sprig fresh rosemary, leaves only
• 250g sourdough, cut into cubes
• 50g extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp sea salt flakes, or 1 tsp fine sea salt
• Freshly cracked pepper to taste
  
  

INGREDIENTS FOR FILLLING

• 120g parmesan cheese, cut into cubes
• 500g fresh ricotta (I normally use Mundella which is quite soft)
• 60g cream (add 100g if using a firm ricotta)
• 3 x 60g eggs
• 20g cornflour
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 tsp sea salt flakes, or 1 tsp fine sea salt
• Freshly cracked pepper to taste
• 10 large fresh basil leaves or 15 medium
  
  

INGREDIENTS FOR TOPPING

• 400g firm tiny tom or roma tomatoes, cut in half
• Sprinkle of sea salt flakes
• 2 tsp light muscovado sugar or coconut sugar
  
  

FOR SERVING

• Drizzle of olive oil and balsamic glaze
• Fresh basil leaves

Instructions

1. Butter sides and line base of a 24cm round spring form tin (base measurement) with baking paper ensuring that the baking paper extends beyond the base edges
2. Preheat oven to 200 degrees fan forced, and position rack into middle of oven
3. Place garlic and rosemary into TM bowl and chop 3 seconds / speed 7
4. Add the sourdough bread and chop 10 seconds / speed 6
5. Scrape around bowl, add olive oil and seasonings and chop 5 seconds / reverse / speed 4 (this will combine the ingredients without chopping the bread any finer as you want it to be slightly chunky) ... do not clean ™ bowl
6. Press the mix into the tin with the back of a spoon so that it covers the base evenly
7. Place into oven and bake 15 minutes until lightly toasted, remove and put aside whilst you make the filling ... this will give the base a little time to cool
8. Increase oven temperature to 220 degrees fan forced
9. Add the parmesan cheese to the ™ bowl and mill 10 seconds / speed 9
10. Add the ricotta, cream, eggs, cornflour, nutmeg, salt and pepper and blend 30 seconds / speed 5
11. Scrape around bowl and repeat 30 seconds / speed 5 until nice and smooth
12. Add the basil leaves pressing them into the ricotta mix and blend 10 seconds / reverse / speed 4 (this will combine the leaves slightly without chopping them)
13. Pour mix over base and use the back of a spoon to level the top
14. Place the tomato halves with cut side facing up on top of the filling, working in a circular fashion leaving a 2.5cm border around the edge (sometimes I start from the middle, other times I start from the edge leaving 2.5cm free ... it all depends on how I feel on the day :))
15. Sprinkle over the sea salt flakes and sugar
16. Place tart in oven and bake 30 minutes, turn tart around and bake for a further 10 minutes or until the top is slightly charred (caramelised)
17. Remove from oven and allow to rest 15 minutes before running a knife around the edge of the tart and releasing the ring
18. Use the baking paper to slide the tart onto a cutting board
19. Sprinkle with extra basil leaves, then cut into wedges and serve drizzled with a little olive oil and balsamic glaze

Notes

This works particularly well with sourdough as it is firm bread, so if you don’t wish to use sourdough then any good firm bread would do. Usually three decent (thick) slices will give you the 250g you need.

For this recipe I used a 500g tub of Mundella ricotta which is quite soft … there are many types of ricotta available so if you use a firm type you will need to add 100g of cream instead of 60g to allow it to blend properly (I have done this when I have had a firm ricotta).

This tart is best eaten on the day it is made and makes a great light lunch, entree or light dinner served with a crisp garden salad (it is still delicious the next day but the tomatoes will wilt a little overnight in the fridge and not look their best … nothing that a little sprinkle of fresh Italian parsley wouldn’t fix!).

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