Delicious gluten free tart with cheese and tomatoes

This Killer Tomato Tart – Gluten Free recipe is, “Oh, so good!” You’ll be most disappointed when someone steals the last piece!

For years my mother has made a mean tomato tart! It’s one of my wife’s favorite dishes and anytime her mother-in-law is in town, she requests it! Luckily, my lovely wife no longer needs to wait for months longing for this rich, savory, yet almost sweet Tomato Tart!

The filling in and of itself is all gluten free, but the crust of this beauty is really the focus of this post. Gluten free or not, nobody wants a soggy crust… I think that is really the attribute that makes or breaks a good tart. It’s especially important when finishing off the leftovers on day 2 (obviously there’s no day 3 with this tomato tart recipe).

What Makes This Tomato Tart Recipe?

Essentially, we’re talking about health food! Tomatoes, ~2 cups of cheese, a bit of mayonnaise… Think of it as a refined Chicago Deep Dish Pizza. Obviously, the star of the show are the tomatoes, so I highly recommend getting quality ones. Some garden fresh/farmstand tomatoes would be best. If those aren’t available in your area, or out of season, get some nice, organic, beefsteak tomatoes. The typical “perfectly” looking grocery store tomatoes tend to be grainy and lack flavor.

Gluten Free Pie Crust

Yes, you’re more than welcome to use a store bought pie crust. Actually, if you’re in a pinch I’ve had this tomato tart plenty of times using Wholly Gluten Free Pie Shells. You can find these shells in the frozen section and they’re a fantastic gluten free product.

If you have a few extra minutes and want to up your game, I’ve got an absolutely delicious pie crust recipe below. An amazing crust truly ups the game of your tomato tart or honestly, any pie… As with my biscuits or scone recipes, I cut the butter in by melting it, letting it cool slightly, then mixing it in with near freezing milk to form little butter globules. It allows for more uniformity and is generally rather easy. The rest of the recipe and ingredients is pretty straight forward. You’ll need your gf flour blend with xanthan gum, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, and a bit more butter (or shortening) to grease the pan.

Poke a few slits in the bottom of your dough to keep it from ballooning. Then bake your crust at 325°F for about 8 minutes, add some enough shredded mozzarella to line the bottom of your crust and continue baking just until the cheese is melted. At this point, you’ll have yourself the perfect crust for your tart.

This Tomato Tart is a Cheesy Affair

As mentioned above, you’re going to line your pie crust with melted cheese… Why? You may think it sounds like overkill, but it’s actually a technique to keep your crust crisp. We’re working with tomatoes, which tend to be quite watery, even after padding them dry. In fact, tomatoes are composed of 95% water… The use of cheese as a liner prevents the excess water from seeping into the crust, keeping it nice and crisp!

The rest of cheesy ingredients include more shredded mozzarella, gruyere, and Parmesan. This combination, along with mayonnaise, leads to a rich melty deliciousness. Make sure you’re using shredded LOW MOISTURE mozzarella, that delicious buffalo mozzarella has too much moisture content. I’m a huge fan of Tillamook for for mozzarella (and shredded cheddar) and Murray’s for Gruyere and Parmesan Cheeses. I can generally find all of these at my local Kroger.

Expanding Upon Tomatoes

Earlier I had discussed using some nice beefsteak tomatoes for this tart. Realistically, you can use any large format tomato variety you’d like. Your plum or roma tomatoes work just as a well as a beefsteak, but I’d err on the side of caution with cherry tomatoes. I haven’t actually tried using cherry tomatoes, but you’d have to halve them to pull out water content, which could be rather tedious. Additionally, there’s a much higher ratio of skin to flesh which may change the texture.

The whole point of this section is a reminder to use good tomatoes. You’ll get much more flavor out of a garden fresh, heirloom, or organic tomato than you will from your perfectly rounded grocery store tomato. It’s similar to why some chefs recommend using canned San Marzano Tomatoes for pasta and pizza. On an interesting note, Martha Stewart Living has a great article regarding San Marzanos. Summarizing it and leading to my point, yes your San Marzano Tomatoes DOP (Denominazione d’Origine Protetta) are a fantastic product, but it’s more about the quality and care of the tomato rather than it coming from a specific region. So, just buy a couple good tomatoes for this, you’ll appreciate the advice.

Either way, I hope you and your family enjoy this recipe as much or more than ours!

Tips and Tricks of the mouth watering Tomato Tart

You can freeze this! I know, this just brightened your day too… Place a frozen tart in the oven at 350°F for approximately 15 minutes, give or take. Letting it thaw first may cause your crust to get soggy (we’ve established we do not like that).
If you are using San Marzano Tomatoes for your next marinara, Amazon has a 6 pack of 28 oz cans of Cento San Marzano Tomatoes for a good price!

If you don’t like mayonnaise, don’t worry, you’ll never even know it’s there! Just try this tart and you won’t be disappointed.

Can’t find fresh basil? Obviously, fresh basil is my first option… Secondarily, I’d use 2 Tbsp of pesto as a substitute.

If you’re more in a Southwest mood, substitute the basil for cilantro, mix in a half cup of frozen corn and 1/2 tsp of cumin to your cheese mixture. You’ve got yourself something entirely new and amazing!

I like a thick crust, I think it adds a little more sustenance to the recipe. Do as you wish! 😉

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