Puff Pastry Tomato Tart

A quote to ponder by T.S. Eliot 

This is a quote from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by TS Eliot. The theme of the poem is the despair J. Alfred Prufrock has looking back over how he has lived his life. In this quote Prufrock is talking about the sameness of every day of his life. He is mourning the fact that now that he's older he hasn't done anything important with his life.
a link for more information if you want to learn more about he poem
http://lit.genius.com/Ts-eliot-the-love-song-of-j-alfred-prufrock-annotated#note-77240

Note there's a new  feature (right hand side toward the top) to the blog posting to make it more user friendly-thanks to my husband! Type in what you are looking for (example: name of the recipe) and a link should pop up.  

Puff Pastry Tomato Tart

Cook's notes: After the first five tomatoes came in there was a lull but then many ripened  several days later and sent me scrambling for a recipe that showcased their beauty. Finding this recipe was a bonanza. It can be used as a main meal or cut into smaller pieces for an appetizer. The spices mixed with  3 cheeses were quite delicious. The recipe called for using an assortment of tomato sizes like cherry, heirloom and regular but I only had on hand one size. Different sizes did look lovely in the picture. Just when the puff pastry went into the oven I had a neighbor stop by giving us this huge zucchini. She said she had more that were even larger!! Slices of zucchini would have been a great addition as well as mushrooms to this tart. Something to try next time.  

Recipe from Country Living August 2014

Ingredients:

• 1 puff pastry sheet (1/2 box)
• 2 TB. olive oil
• 1 cup light ricotta cheese, drained
• 4 oz. softened goat cheese plain or garlic-herb
• grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1-2 tsp. Italian herbs
• 1-2 TB. fresh minced basil
• 3/4 lbs. assorted tomatoes,yellow ones, cherry, heirlooms
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Preheat 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a bowl add ricotta, softened goat cheese, egg and spices. Whisk to mix.
• On a sheet of wax paper lightly flour work surface and roll sheet out to 10 x 15 rectangle. 
• Invert on to parchment covered baking sheet and peel off wax paper.
• With  a paring knife, score a border 1 inch from the edge all the way around the rectangle, cutting into, but not through. 

• Prick holes in the center. This is an interesting step because by pricking just in the center of dough this allows the border to rise higher than center that has been pricked. I was a disbeliever but by some miracle it really worked! Brush center of dough with olive oil. Spread ricotta cheese mixture in the center of the puff pastry sheet.

• Cut tomatoes and pat dry on paper towel-arrange over the center.
• Salt and pepper to taste. Grate Parmesan cheese over the top.
• Bake about 20 minutes until edges are brown and filling is set. 

A suggested addition: Cut cherry tomatoes to fill in spaces next to larger tomato slices. 

Bon Appetit!