8 COOK’S COUNTRYTHE IDEA OF a rustic tomato tart—
aka tomato galette—is simple: Slice
tomatoes, season them, pile them onto
fl aky dough, fold the dough’s edges up,
and bake until the crust is golden and
crisp. A tomato tart is perfect for lunch
or as a light supper with a salad, and it’s
a fantastic way to showcase the sweet-
ness and fl avor of ripe tomatoes. But
tomatoes contain a lot of water, and
water and crisp pastry crust are mortal
enemies. The crusts of more than a few
tomato galette recipes I made during
my research phase were so soggy that
I couldn’t cut a clean slice. And some
attempts were dull in fl avor, too. I
headed back to the kitchen determined
to make the best possible version.
The test kitchen has a recipe for a
fantastic, easy, crisp crust that I was con-
fi dent would work here. But I knew I’d
have to do something to extract some
liquid from the tomatoes before putting
them into that crust. The two obvious
paths were roasting and salting. Roast-
ing worked but took too long. Slicing
and salting the tomatoes and letting
them drain in a colander was a bet-
ter solution; it was quicker, taking just
30 minutes, and allowed the tomatoes
to retain more of their fresh fl avor.
Speaking of fl avor, I decided to fol-
low the lead of a few recipes I’d tried
and add cheese to the mix. I tested
several kinds: cheddar, mozzarella, Par-
mesan, gouda, and Gruyère. My tasters
couldn’t decide between the Parmesan
and the Gruyère, so I used them both. I
sprinkled the melty Gruyère right onto
the dough before layering the tomato
slices on top, and I saved the Parme-
san for sprinkling over the assembled
galette. The cheeses added welcome
richness and also preserved the dough’s
crisp texture; the Gruyère helped wa-
terproof the dough on the bottom while
the wisps of Parmesan soaked up any
extra moisture on top.
The galette was really good, but I
had a feeling it could be better. Light-
ning struck when a colleague mentioned
that she loved fresh tomato sandwiches
not with mayo but with mustard.Slices of ripe tomato
nestled into a buttery,
fl aky crust? Sounds
great, until the liquid in
the tomatoes rains on
your parade. by Alli Berkey
Rustic Tomato Tart
Our crisp, buttery
crust is the perfect
complement to
sweet, tangy
tomatoes.