So, most of you know I play on a women’s tennis team. It is great fun. It is kind of like being in high school again, except my thighs now have a lovely cottage cheese texture to them and my opponents faces are a bit blurry on the other side of the net. Then there’s the lag time problem I have now between seeing what the ball is doing and actually making my feet and racquet respond. We don’t have a bus, either – Darn! We do have a coach, though, but we have to pay him to yell at us instead of being yelled at by Coach Weatherby for free. We even have home matches and away matches. We play at fancy schmancy clubs and not so fancy schmancy clubs. We have super cute team uniforms and, like high school, we form great friendships. Unlike high school, the home team supplies food and drink after the match. It is a fabulous system. Unfortunately, all the eating afterwards cancels out all the calories burned during the match. Such is life.
I was in charge at last week’s home match, so I made my tried and true butternut squash soup with gruyere croutons and a few new recipes. The new recipes were Ina Garten’s Goat Cheese Tart, an autumn salad and my newest favorite pie – apple cranberry crumb pie. Today, I’m going to share the Goat Cheese Tart. It is from Ina’s Barefoot in Paris cookbook and like all Ina recipes it, too, is fabulous. I found the filling made enough to fill two tarts quite generously, but I did double the shallots to make two tarts. Enjoy!
Goat Cheese Tart
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/4 t./ 1/4 t. kosher salt
- 1 1/2 stick (12 T.)/ 1 T. cold butter, diced
- 3-4 T. ice water
- 3/4 cup (3-4 ) shallots, chopped
- 10 1/2 oz. garlic and herb soft goat cheese (like montrachet)
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3 large eggs
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
- 1/8 t. fresh ground pepper
Cooking Directions:
- Make the crust in a food processor: Put 12 T. of diced butter in processor bowl with the flour and 1/4 t. salt and pulse until pea-like. While machine is running add the water and process until the dough becomes crumbly. Form into a ball and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Roll the dough out and fit into a 9 inch tart pan with removable bottom. Roll the rolling pin over the top to cut off excess dough. Blind bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove whatever is covering it and bake for 10 more minutes.
- For the filling: Melt 1 T. butter in a small pan and saute the shallots until tender – about 5 minutes. Place the goat cheese in the food processor and process until crumbly and then add the cream, eggs, basil, 1/4 t. salt and pepper and process until blended.
- Place the shallots in the bottom of the tart shell and pour the goat cheese mixture over. Remember you may have extra filling. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the tart is firm when shaken and the top is starting to brown. Cool for ten minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.