“Orchard Overload” Apple, Shallot, and Gruyere Tart

After I made my applesauce, I still had a ton of apples lying around the apartment. The next obvious thing to do with a bunch of fresh apples is to make dessert in my opinion. But with twelve pounds of apples lying around the apartment I didn’t really feel like making a bunch of pies. So I decided to try my hand at a savory apple tart. Which, as it turns out, was a pretty wise choice! 

“Live and Let Leek” Tart

If there’s one thing to be said for the French, it’s that they really know how to treat an ingredient right. When you find something in season at the farmer’s market, reverting to (and maybe combining) some classic French techniques is the surest way to create a simple and extremely satisfying meal that showcases the flavor of whatever it is you are cooking.

Enter the humble leek. Readily available now that we are moving into the Fall, this onion relative never gets enough credit! So when GrowNYC put out a call for recipes with “star ingredients” and I saw leeks on the list with a wide list of trendy veggies like beets, sweet potatoes, and the ever formidable and perennially (inexplicably) glamorous kale, I knew I had to take action in one of my favorite treats’ defense.

All you really need for this recipe is a standard size bunch of leeks. Chances are you already have most of everything else in the fridge already!  The techniques (confit and a basic tart filling) and other ingredients in this recipe are very limited and really get out of the way to let my lovely leek shine!

 “Solo l'inizio” Zucchini, Ham and Ricotta Tart

Confession. I’ve been holding out and haven’t really shared my favorite lunch hack with you yet…

Savory tarts! Learn the incredibly basic recipe for making a tart custard, grab yourself a frozen pie crust and fill it with whatever vegetables are in season and you’ve got lunch for a whole week! And once you’ve done it a few times, you’ll be cranking these bad boys out in less than an hour start to finish, including baking time!

I switch it up between preparing tarts that are based in Italian and French technique. Both are very simple. The difference is that Italians use more eggs. The French use more cream and milk. We’ll get to the French technique in a later post, but this first one happens to be Italian with a recipe from Phaidon’s upcoming Italian Cooking School: Pizza.

Full disclosure I work for the publisher but that doesn’t change the fact that I REALLY like this cookbook. I would have never thought to start making tarts had this recipe not caught my eye as particularly simple. And the book’s structure (it teaches you basic techniques first and then encourages you to variate pretty much endlessly!) truly has inspired me to keep experimenting with tarts.

Using a frozen pie crust is DEFINITELY not authentically Italian, but let’s be real… who has time to make pastry on a weeknight! I don’t care how basic that recipe is. It takes me approximately 3 seconds to pull my pie crust out of the freezer. I always keep one in there now!

Endless possibilities I tell you!

“Supermodel” Tomato Tarte Tatin

Guys… It’s August. If you aren’t eating as many tomatoes as humanly possible, please take a moment to take a hard look in the mirror and ask yourself what you’re doing with your life. Go to the store. Preferably go to a farmer’s market (where local tomatoes are darn cheap and amazingly flavorful this month). Buy as many types of tomatoes in as many colors as you possibly can. Make this week tomato week!   

It’s no secret. I love Melissa Clark’s “Good Appetite” column. Actually obsessed. So when I was browsing Instagram and an image of her incredible “Caramalized Tomato Tarte Tatin” popped up just as incredible tomatoes were showing up in every farmer’s market and grocery store I passed I pretty much freaked out.

“Absurdly Overflowing” Mediterranean Vegetable Pie from Ottolenghi's Plenty

The first time I visited the restaurant Ottolenghi in London, my mind was pretty much blown. I was on my first business trip abroad and I went for breakfast at the Notting Hill location with a friend right after getting off the red eye from New York. Which instantly cured my jet lag. I could not get over the giant piles of delicious vegetarian salads. I’d never seen anything that looked so delicious. And he had a cookbook! But it was only available in a UK version with metric measures, worthless to me at home in my US kitchen.

So imagine my delight when Chronicle published an American version of Plenty a few seasons later! It’s a treasure trove of inspiration but also a huge source of frustration. Ottolenghi’s recipes, while consistently the most delicious thing that you have ever put into your mouth, are also pretty consistently extremely time consuming and often use weird ingredients that you might have trouble finding or spices that you will only use once. Unless of course you cook from the book like every night. 

That doesn't stop me from using it and there are a few recipes (which I'll show you!) that are much less daunting and can be done very quickly. This... is not one of them... 

That said, as a Sunday project to prep for consumption throughout the week, the recipe for “Very Full Tart” is well worth the effort. The ingredients are straight forward and it’s actual a fun way to test your kitchen IQ because it showcases a couple of really wonderful basic techniques. You'll be a master of roasting and caramelizing by the time you are done (techniques that take a while but require little active work and deliver a huge flavor punch). 

The big hack here, is to use a frozen pie crust (the kind already in the tin that costs $3 at the supermarket). It will save you the extensive pre-baking time and means you also won't have to invest in a tart pan or pie weights.  

This recipe will leave you with enough food for multiple lunches or dinner or, frankly, breakfasts. It’s just as delicious (I think more delicious) at room temperature as it is hot..

But for the love of God, do NOT try making this on a weeknight. You will hate yourself forever.