Tomato, Shallot and Goat Cheese Tart

I know I'm a little early for the tomato harvest, but I made this last night with some tomatoes from the Farmers Market as a "practice run" for my own harvest. You know had to check it out with their tomatoes before I was going to risk some of my own home grown gems ;)

I have got to say, this is tart is well worth using some of your harvest! I made a few tweaks to the recipe I found in my first issue of Heirloom magazine. Are any of you out there reading this magazine as well? If not I highly recommend it. It is put out by the folks at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, and there are some pretty interesting articles! Not to mention yummy garden recipes...



This tomato tart was so simple. I'll admit, it was a crazy weekend and I had a bunch of studying and homework to do for my horticulture course, and I spend most of Saturday in the garden, so I used store bought pastry dough. But we'll keep that our little secret ;)

Tomato, Shallot and Goat Cheese Tart 
1 large sheet of frozen puff pastry
1/3 cup of goat cheese softened at room temp (I just eyeballed this)
3-4 medium tomatoes sliced and patted dry
2 shallots thinly sliced
chopped basil to sprinkle all over tart 
1 clove of garlic minced 
salt and pepper 
Olive Oil 


1. Thaw pastry dough according to directions. Spray tart pan with non-stick spray (If you don't have a tart pan, the original recipe from Heirloom says to just spread out on cookie sheet and you'll leave an edge to curl up around creating like a boat for the ingredients) 

2. Pre-Heat Over to 400F 


3. Spread the goat cheese on the pastry.  Place tomatoes and shallots all over the goat cheese.  Sprinkle with basil and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle about 2 TBsp of Olive Oil over tart. 


4. Bake 20-25 minutes until the crust is brown. Allow to cool for about 10 min before serving. 

Tart after baking

Leftovers kept well over night in the fridge. I zapped the tart in the microwave for 30 seconds and it tasted great!

Well...must go back to study latin names of landscape plants and identify them by their leaves. Of course tomatoes, peppers and herbs aren't on this test...noooo that'd be too easy ;)

I wish you all a wonderful week ahead!

Garden Harvest Basket

Well we are under a tornado warning until 2AM tonight, so that should tell you what kind of weather we're having today. So I thought I'd bring in a little of the garden and share with you this awesome new harvest basket I got! 

I am a a fan of anything hand made and local to be honest with you. I think there is a lost art to local handi-crafts. So I often jump at the chance to get something fun and unique.  I was reading through my new issue of Heirloom (its the quarterly magazine put out by the folks at Baker Creek Heirloom seeds, this was my first issue, and I love it! But thats for another post) and they had a quick blurb about these great harvest baskets for sale on Etsy. When I went to go look they're handmade in North Carolina, which pretty much sold me (okay okay I was sold when they said hand-made wooden garden harvest basket) 

This little beauty is there medium size, and made out of old tobacco wood and hardwood, and the produce can be hosed off prior to bringing it inside. 

Medium sized harvest basket

Now I don't normally like to do any advertisement for anyone on the blog but I just couldn't help share this with you. I'll include the link to their Etsy store so you can at least check it out for yourself! (http://www.etsy.com/listing/100422786/unique-fruit-vegetable-garden-harvesting)

I really can't wait until those little green tomatoes start turning and I can use this to harvest! (That is if the plants don't float away tonight) 

Here are a few more pictures. Please ignore the kitty "sniffing" the basket in the last one. I couldn't keep them away.... 

Seems like the perfect size for a small household garden

Something new ;) 

Supposed to clear up and be in the mid-70s tomorrow...great gardening day! Hope yours is just as wonderful! Cheers! 

Happy Gardening!