July 16, 2021
We are in the midst of summer in Ohio. Summer in Ohio is when a lot of produce is at its peak of freshness. It’s the perfect time to incorporate as many fresh fruits and veggies into the food I cook as I can. I’ve been seeing a lot of amazing garden focaccia floating around the internet and felt inspired to create my own version. Instead of a garden focaccia, I opted to make a garden tart featuring spears of fresh asparagus, slices of beautiful heirloom tomatoes, discs of colorful baby potatoes, and rounds of jalapeños. The vegetables are sliced, trimmed, and arranged artfully over a canvas of homemade pie dough. The pie dough is then baked into a stunning tart making for both a stunning and delicious summer meal. Summer vegetable tarts are one of my favorite easy meals to whip together during busy weeks. This month has been especially busy in our household with projects at work picking up, family and friends visiting, and home appliances needing to be fixed. When it comes to busier days, I like to find ways to make simple, homemade meals using as little effort as possible. This is where my garden tart comes in. Not only is it super easy to pull together, it also makes for a tasty main dish. I just freehand the design using some of the produce I have on hand, bake up the tart, and serve the delicious dinner on the same sheet pan I baked the tart in. As long as I prep some pie dough ahead of time, slice up some veggies, and prepare the oven, the tart comes together fairly quickly. Usually, I like to make my tomato pesto tart during the summer using the fresh basil I’ve been growing in my AeroGarden and some heirloom tomatoes I pick up from the local supermarket. Making a simple pesto is beyond easy when I had some basil growing wildly in my AeroGarden. Pesto is not absolutely necessary to add in a tart, but it sure does make for an even tastier tart. I would often round the rest of my meal off with a combination of sliced up summer fruits and chopped mint. Mangoes, peaches, nectarines, citrus fruits, and even berries would often make it into the fruit salad. For my vegetable garden tart though, I deviated slightly from the tomato pesto tart I usually make. Instead of spreading a tasty green layer of pesto onto the pie dough, I just sprinkle on some grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, kosher salt, and pepper. That’s it. The rest of the flavor in the tart comes directly from the seasonal produce. Making a tart is also a great way to use up some leftover tomatoes from making sandwiches and jalapeño from making crispy tofu bánh mì. For Kevin, the quicker the dinner goes from the kitchen to table, the better. My garden vegetable tart is one of those dishes where it’s impossible to mess up. It comes straight from the oven to table in almost no time. The tart is perfect on its own, but can also be made into a more substantial meal when served alongside some oven baked chicken wings, a simple minty fruit salad, and some iced tea. A summer vegetable garden tart is a tasty dinner waiting to be customized to one’s own liking. I can honestly say it has saved me on many occasions when it comes to getting a quick meal onto the table.
For the garden vegetable tart:
For the pie dough:
· 1½ cups all-purpose flour
· ½ teaspoon kosher salt
· ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
· ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
· ¼ cup cold water
For the rest of the tart:
· 6 sprigs asparagus, bottom parts of stems trimmed
· 4 slices from a combination of heirloom and beefsteak tomatoes
· 9 slices from 2-3 colorful baby potatoes
· 2 slices from a jalapeño
1 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
· ½ teaspoon kosher salt
· ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
Directions:
1) To make the pie dough, combine the flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor. Pulse for 2 seconds. Add the unsalted butter. Pulse for 5 seconds. Add in the water. Pulse until the dough comes together, about 10-20 seconds. Remove the dough from the food processor and place onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Form the dough into a disc. Wrap the dough up in the sheet of plastic wrap and let the dough chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
2) As the pie dough is chilling in the refrigerator, prepare the trimmed and sliced produce for the garden vegetable tart. When you are ready to use the pie dough, remove the disc from the refrigerator and let it sit for at least 10 minutes before using.
3) Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
4) To make the tart, roll out the pie dough onto a lightly floured surface. When rolling out the dough, try to keep the dough in a rectangular shape. Trim off any excess dough, if needed. Transfer the pie dough onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Crimp the edges of the pie dough. Sprinkle on the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, kosher salt, and cracked black pepper. Arrange the asparagus sprigs, tomato slices, potato slices, and jalapeño slices all over the crimped pie dough in one flat layer with any design you like.
5) Transfer the baking sheet with the garden vegetable tart into the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. Once time is up, the tart should have achieved a golden-brown crust. Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Let the garden vegetable tart rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Takeaways: For this tart, I skipped the step of brushing the tart with an egg wash prior to baking. Brushing on egg wash helps the tart achieve a glossy, golden-brown color once baked. Skipping this step results in a more matte appearance for the tart. My summer vegetable garden tart can be easily customized using pretty much any vegetables on hand. I try to pair vegetables together based on the time it takes for the vegetables to cook. I adjust the thickness of the vegetables as needed to ensure even cooking.