Simple savory, cheesy tart envelops summer tomatoes

This fresh tomato tart is flavored with basil, thyme and parmesan.

Tomato Tart

For the pastry:

1 cup flour, plus more for

dusting

1 teaspoon sugar ½ teaspoon salt

½ cup unsalted butter (cut

into 5 chunks) 5 tablespoons ice water For the filling:

¼ cup (loosely packed)

slivered basil

¼ cup freshly grated

parmesan cheese 1 tablespoon fresh thyme

leaves

1¼ pounds ripe tomatoes (a mix of colors and sizes is prettiest), sliced into ¼-inch thick rounds Olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

To make the pastry: Combine the flour, sugar and ½ teaspoon salt in a food processor. Pulse once to mix. Drop the butter, and pulse about 5 times, until lumps range in size from crumbs to beans. Dump flour mixture into a large bowl. Drizzle in ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, folding pastry with a flexible spatula, until pastry clumps. Pat into a disk. Dust with flour. Wrap and chill at least 1 hour.

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Toss together basil, cheese and thyme.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out pastry to a 13-inch circle. Fold in quarters and unfold onto a parchment-lined baking pan.

Spread herb and cheese mixture over pastry, leaving a 2-inch border bare. Cover with tomatoes, overlapping the slices slightly. Drizzle tomatoes with a little olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Fold the pastry border up and over the tomatoes, forming a 9-inch rustic tart.

Bake until pastry is golden brown and crisp, about 30 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Slice and savor.

Makes 1 tart.