The Queen of Hearts she made some tarts
All on a summer’s day. 
The Knave of Hearts he stole the tarts
And took them clean away. 
The King of Hearts called for the tarts
And beat the Knave full sore. 
The Knave of Hearts brought back the tarts
And vowed he’d steal no more. 

The things that pop into one’s mind while one is cooking…

It is reasonably fitting, I guess… I’ve been called a queen, I did make tarts, and it is a summer’s day. Fortunately, no one stole anything or had to be beaten. Score one for the good guys.

The tomatoes are finally coming in at a pretty fast pace – we’ll be making a vat of sauce this week  – and I’m always looking for different ways to use them. As much as I like it, one does not live by tomato salad, alone.

I also had apricots I wanted to use up in a dessert of sorts…

I headed over to my go-to recipe sites but didn’t see anything overly wonderful. I headed over to the Martha Stewart website and found a Tomato Tart recipe that sounded promising. There was also a recipe for an Apricot Tart with Pistachios on Puff Pastry…

My thought process was I could make one batch of dough and use it for both tarts. Heck with the puff pastry. An idea was born… I didn’t end up doing either of her recipes, although the apricot tart filling is pretty close. I also added thyme to the pastry for the tomato tart. Both tarts are similar in their making – a filling on the bottom with something on top and something on top of that. Really basic stuff.

I made them one after the other and baked them together.

Pastry Dough for Two Tarts

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 8 oz butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1/2 cup ice water
  • 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme – hold back and use only for savory tart

In a food processor, add flour, salt, and butter. Process until butter is mixed in well.

With machine running, add most of the water and process with on and off turns until a good dough forms. Divide dough in half. Wrap one half in plastic and refrigerate about 30 minutes. Return the second half to the food processor, add the fresh thyme, and quickly incorporate it into the dough.

Wrap the dough in plastic and place in ‘fridge for 30 minutes.

Tomato Tart

  • 8 oz porcini mushrooms
  • 2 large tomatoes
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded cheeses
  • Salt & Pepper

Puree mushrooms and set aside.

Blanche tomatoes to remove skin. Set aside.

Roll out dough and line tart pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Spread mushroom puree over crust.

Top with half of the cheese.

Slice the peeled tomatoes and cover cheese, overlapping them as you go. Generously salt and pepper the tomatoes.

Cover with the remaining cheese and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Place in oven and bake 35 minutes. Remove and cool to room temperature.

Slice and enjoy!

This was really good – really good! The mushrooms added an unexpected flavor and the tomatoes were cooked but still held together. And the cheesy goodness just topped it off. Perfectly crumbly crust…

Yeah… this one worked.

And on to dessert…

Apricot and Pistachio Tart

adapted from Martha Stewart

  • 1 1/4 cups unsalted pistachios, chopped, divided
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 cube (stick) butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 1/4 pounds apricots (about 6), cut into 1/4-inch-thick wedges
  • 2 tbsp turbinado sugar

Place 1 cup pistachios and 1/2 cup sugar in food processor. process until pistachios are fairly well chopped. Add butter, egg, and vanilla, and process to a paste.

Roll out dough and line tart pan.

Spread pistachio filling over pastry.

Top with quartered apricots.

Mix remaining 1/4 cup of chopped pistachios with the 2 tbsp turbinado sugar and sprinkle on top.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Bake in a preheated 400°F oven for 35 minutes.

Cool and enjoy!

Both of these were really easy to do. The hardest part was cleaning the food processor several times.

The crust is really easy to make and is pretty no-fail. It will also make any double-crusted pie you want to do.

I see more of these in our future…