the hungry bambino

One of Pickle's favorite things to eat at Café Soleil is their herbed chevre croissant. While I wish I could craft these gorgeous, cheesy, roasted tomato-stuffed delights at home, I am not a pastry chef, but I am a mom who loves to recreate beloved foodstuff while simplifying the process. I've replaced handcrafted croissant dough with frozen puff pastry and swapped the oven-dried tomatoes with sauteed ones. It is a spot-on rendition in taste, but not shape.

Market Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart

Ingredients:
1 sheet puff pastry, defrosted in the fridge
1 large, in-season tomato or 3 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 clove garlic, minced or grated on a microplane
1 tablesppon thyme leaves
1 tablespoon olive or grapeseed oil
kosher salt and fresh black pepper to taste
4 oz fresh goat cheese, at room temperature – I use the fabulously creamy DreamFarm chevre
4 oz, grated nutty, aged cheese, like Pleasant Ridge Reserve or Marieke Gouda
1 egg, whisked with 1 teaspoon water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Heat oil over medium heat until shimmery. Add tomatoes and saute until juices start to run.
Add garlic and thyme and cook another minute.

Remove from heat to cool.

On a flour-dusted counter or board, roll out puff pastry until its roughly 14 inches by 11 inches. Chill for 15 minutes it if gets too soft. Cut pastry in half. Score a 1/2 border on one piece of pastry. In the inside rectangle, spread goat cheese over entire surface. Place back in the refrigerators until the tomatoes are ready.

Spread tomatoes over the goat cheese and then sprinkle with the grated cheese. Egg wash the border left on the puff pastry and then top it with the other piece. Press and seal edges together, then use a pastry wheel to cut the egdes so they look uniform. if you don't have a pastry wheel, a knife will work too. Cut three small slits on the top to allow steam to escape. Egg wash the entire tart and place in the preheated oven for 18 minutes, or until golden brown and puffed.

Cut into individual portions.
Serve warm or at room temperature.