Right Now: Phyllo Tomato Tart

All tomatoes, all the time

Peak tomato season is here. For me, this is a very big deal. I didn’t really mean to make my whole personality/culinary outlook about LOVING TOMATOES, but I just do. So here we are. 

Whether you’re swimming in them or just picked up a reasonable number at the farmer’s market, this tomato tart is a wonderful way to share the beauty of perfect summer tomatoes with friends. 

A good tomato tart can be surprisingly hard to pull off. Juicy tomatoes generally need some intervention not to sog everything up. But often, those interventions – seeding the tomatoes, salting and draining, roasting or baking the tomatoes ahead – can diminish the star ingredient. Here, I seeded the tomatoes and salted them on a layer of paper towels for 15 minutes. This process makes for tomatoes that are still juicy and acidic, but not overly drippy.

Be sure to use the brightest, absolute best-tasting tomatoes you can find. The tomato flavor really shines through, and mediocre tomatoes just won’t do. Here, I used Darkstar (a nice hybrid that's a lot like Cherokee Purple), Green Zebras, and deep red Jersey Boy slicers.

Once the tomatoes are prepped, all that's left is to beat an egg into the ricotta and prep the phyllo. Pretty simple! 

Start with the ricotta. I added olive oil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Lemon zest, thyme leaves, Calabrian chilies, and sumac all come to mind as other delicious potential additions. Basically, you want to be sure the ricotta is seasoned well and tastes great. Once you've achieved the desired flavor, add the egg. 

Phyllo dough sheets are light as air and tear easily. Just know that they are also incredibly forgiving and kind of self healing in the oven. If you have a consistent tear in once spot in your layers, just rotate the orientation of the sheets and you'll be fine. Layer the sheets on a parchment-lined baking sheet with a drizzle of olive oil in between.

Phyllo Tomato Tart with Ricotta and Basil

Makes: One 11 x 16-inch tart or 9 servings