Serves a Crowd

Slow Roasted Tomato and Mozzarella Galettes

by:
June 18, 2010
4.5
2 Ratings
Slow Roasted Tomato and Mozzarella Galettes
  • Serves 2 8-inch galettes/tarts
Author Notes

This is the quintessential summer tart. A fresh pesto prepared with basil, arugula, cilantro, walnuts, mozzarella and strawberries (yes, that's not a typo) brings in whiffs of a summer garden. Ripe tomatoes are roasted long and slow till their flavor becomes concentrated. In a case of puff pastry and under a layer of fresh mozzarella, the tarts are baked until golden. You can make these into rustic, free-form galettes or in a tart pan. Either way, all you'll long for is a picnic. - Heena —Heena

Test Kitchen Notes

Gently slow-roasting the tomatoes concentrates their wonderful flavor -- it's well worth waiting three and half hours to make them. The strawberries add a little bit of sweetness that nicely compliments the tomatoes. You can mix and match the herbs in the pesto to suit your own preferences. - Stephanie
—The Editors

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • For the tomatoes:
  • 8 ripe tomatoes, preferably roma or plum
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
  • For the pesto:
  • 1 cup fresh basil, tightly packed
  • 1/2 cup arugula, tightly packed
  • 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, tightly packed
  • 3 tablespoons walnuts
  • 5 small strawberries
  • 1 ounce fresh mozzarella, grated or roughly torn to small bits
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • Salt, to taste
  • For the tart:
  • 2 10×10 inch sheets butter puff pastry, store-bought or homemade as you prefer
  • 6 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into thick slices
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 200?F.
  2. Cut off the stem-end of the tomatoes and slice them in half length-wise. Scoop out the seeds, juice and the stem, if it is tough. Gently toss the tomatoes with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Place tomatoes on a baking sheet, cut side up. Bake in the preheated oven for 3 1/2 hours.
  3. Make the pesto: Roughly chop the basil, arugula and cilantro leaves in a food processor. Add the walnuts, strawberries and mozzarella and process. Drizzle the olive oil slowly and process to a smooth paste. Season with salt.
  4. Preheat the oven to 350?F.
  5. Roll out the puff-pastry into 2 10-inch rounds. Place on parchment paper on a baking sheet. Spread a layer of pesto (about 2 tablespoons) on the pastry, leaving a 1 1/2 inch border. (You'll have pesto left over.) Layer 8 tomato halves on each pastry round followed by slices of mozzarella. Fold the border over the filling, pleating the edges.
  6. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 mins until the pastry is golden.
  7. Do-ahead: The tomatoes and pesto can be made ahead. Stored in an airtight container in the fridge, they will keep for several days. They are also good over grilled bread or pasta.
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19 Reviews

SunBunny
SunBunny September 4, 2014
Look incredible! I love that you added strawberries. I've tried this before and it's awesome!!!
 
MonkeyBusiness
MonkeyBusiness July 28, 2010
Just to let you know that I searched "Mozzarella" as I purchased too much for another recipe and found this...I made it and it was delicious, the addition of the strawberries was
inspired....the operative word from thelastcource was "sounds"....in order to be a great cook, you need a spirit of adventure, and unless you try something you can't really be so
judgmental...!
 
Heena
Heena July 28, 2010
Thank you! I'm so very glad I could help you make something you liked with that delicious mozzarella :)
 
AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames June 24, 2010
So glad this gorgeous, delectable looking recipe received EP honors. Love it! Am looking forward to local tomatoes, to make this. I know it will be an instant favorite here. Congrats!! ;o)
 
Heena
Heena June 24, 2010
Thank you! It's so worth putting on that oven even in summer.
 
monica's S.
monica's S. June 21, 2010
hi heena, this recipe looks pretty awesome n seem perfect for summer. can't wait to try it. love the addition of the strawberries too!

monica
www.balleindianfod.com
 
Heena
Heena June 24, 2010
Thanks Monica!
 
emmanation
emmanation June 18, 2010
I'm fascinated by the strawberries. I actually have just a few coming to ripeness in my garden right now- maybe this is the perfect use for them!
 
lapadia
lapadia June 18, 2010
To Heena and all Food52ers: Forget about thelastcourse and he/she’s comment directed towards this Lovely recipe, especially when thelastcourse directed 3 other distasteful comments towards other mozzarella recipes…within minutes of this one! Clearly, thelastcourse is not having a fun time with the spirit of Food52! So forget about it and “Let life get our best today and everyday!”
 
Lizthechef
Lizthechef June 18, 2010
Thanks to drbabs for her instructive comment and to Heena, for being incredibly gracious about the insulting remark. No wonder you are a winner ;)
 
fiveandspice
fiveandspice June 18, 2010
Heena, this sounds so creative and interesting, I'd love to know what inspired the use of strawberries! I think I'll be giving it a try the next time I have a picnic. :)
 
Heena
Heena June 18, 2010
I wanted something to add just a hint of sweetness - you know, gone before you can catch hold of it. My eyes fell on the strawberries (which I can't stop buying) and wondered if that would work. I googled it and Clotilde of the lovely Chocolate & Zucchini had done it before, so I ran with it. And it works,
 
fiveandspice
fiveandspice June 18, 2010
How lovely! Thanks for sharing.
 
dymnyno
dymnyno June 18, 2010
Heen, can I use whole tomatoes that I canned last summer...this years tomatoes are a few months from ripening?
 
Heena
Heena June 18, 2010
Do you mean for roasting or directly in the tart? For roasting, you'd need meaty tomatoes with no juice and the skin on. If not, I think you can use the tomatoes directly on the tart, just make sure there isn't too much juice or the tart will become soggy.
(I don't have too much experience with canned tomatoes. So if other readers do, please jump in.)
 
Heena
Heena June 18, 2010
Thanks drbabs for the support. And thelastcourse, except for negative comments on each one of my recipes, I haven't seen any other contribution. Please let me know what did not appeal to you and I can try and explain it. But as a person who has been cooking for very long, let me assure you that I would not subject people to a 'ghastly' recipe.
 
thelastcourse
thelastcourse June 18, 2010
this recipe sounds ghastly!!! Yuck
 
drbabs
drbabs June 18, 2010
Hey, thelastcourse. If you look around the site, you'll notice that the members of this community support each other and make constructive comments. Is there some suggestion you would make that would make this more palatable to you? Helpful feedback is always welcome. "Ghastly" and "yuck" aren't helpful. (IMHO)
 
Amanda H.
Amanda H. June 18, 2010
We encourage constructive conversations about cooking on food52 -- everyone is welcome to participate, and we look forward to you doing so with good will.