Ratatouille Tart

Why have I never used the slicer blade on my food processor before??? I guess it was simple laziness - not wanting to dig the blade out of the cupboard, and not wanting to deal with the clean up of all the parts of the processor. In the long run, the slicer saved me a ton of time, effort, and probably a few fingers. And having neat, uniform slices makes this tart so much prettier.

The food processor also came in handy when mixing the dough. I've watch food shows that have done this, but once again, was too lazy to do it. I may start making homemade piecrusts once again.

Anyway, this tart was fairly easy to put together, though a bit time consuming. I got to use the tart pan that my friend Jennifer gave me for my birthday last year. The result was well worth the effort. Hubs claimed that it was one of the best things I've made recently. He especailly liked the healthy portion of veggies.


Ratatouille Tart
adapted from Cuisine at Home
August 2009

Dough (recipe follows)

1 yellow squash
1 large zucchini
1 red bell pepper
1/4 red onion
3/4 c shredded firm chevre (goat cheese)
2 Tbs thinly sliced fresh basil
1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

For the dough: Pulse 1 1/2 c all purpose flour and 1/2 tsp each of table salt and black pepper in
a food processor. Add 6 Tbs of cold, diced unsalted butter and 3 Tbs cold diced shortening; pulse
until pieces of butter and shortening are the size of peas. Add 3 Tbs ice water; pulse to combine.
Shape dough into a flat disk. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Roll dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Fit dough into a 9-inch tart pan. Press dough into edges and trim excess. Cover dough with foil and fill with dried beans. Bake until crust feels dry, about 25 minutes. Remove foil and beans and bake shell for another 5 minutes, until light brown. Let crust cool to room temperature.

Using a mandoline, or the slicer blade of a food processor, slice squash, zucchini, and bell pepper into rounds, and the onion into half-rounds. Sprinkle chevre and basil over the bottom of the tart shell. Arrange vegetables around the edge of the shell, repeatedly overlapping two slices of squash, two slices of zucchini, a slice of bell pepper, and three slices of onion (or whatever combination you wish). Arrange a smaller circle inside the first. Use squash slices to cover the center.

Drizzle tart with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Bake until tart is golden brown around the edges, about 35 minutes.