Squash Tart

I know I did a squash recipe last month, but the squash keeps coming so here is a Squash Tart that I made for a friend the other day. The tart shell can also be used for other dishes as well. I also did an heirloom tomato pie in the same shell. As I preferred the Squash recipe this is the recipe I will pass on this month.

1 medium zucchini

1 Paddy Pan

1 yellow summer squash

- all sliced into very thin coins

1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

For the Tart Crust:

1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1.2 cup unsalted butter, well chilled & cut into 14 inch cubes

4-ounce chunk of fresh Parmesan, microplane grated (you should end up with 2 cups loosely packed grated cheese.

2 Tablespoons ice cold water

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Tomato Sauce:

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Pinch of salt

1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes

1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese

Start by tossing the sliced zucchini and the other squashes with the salt in a medium bowl. Transfer to a colander and let it drain while you make the tart shell and tomato sauce.

Make the tart crust:

Place both flours, butter, and Parmesan in a food processor and pulse quickly about 25 times. You are looking for a sandy textured blend, punctuated with pea-sized pieces of butter. With a few more pulses, blend in the 2T of ice water. The dough should stick together when your pinch it between two fingers. Pour the dough into the tart pan. Working quickly, press the dough uniformly into the pan by pressing across the bottom and working towards the sides and up to form a rim. Place in the refrigerator and chill for 15 minutes.

Bake the tart crust:

Pull the tart out of the refrigerator and poke each a few times with the tongs of a fork. Cover the tart with a square of aluminum foil and fill generously with pie weights. Place on a baking sheet and slide the tart onto the middle rack in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes, pull the shell out of the oven and very gently peel back and remove the tinfoil containing the pie weights. Place the uncovered tart back in the oven, weight free, and allow to cook for another 10 minutes, or until it is a deep golden brown in color. Let cool to room temperature before filling.

In the meantime, you can make the sauce. Stir the garlic, olive oil, red pepper flakes, and salt together in a small, cold saucepan. Turn the heat to medium-high and cook until the garlic starts to sizzle just a bit. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, bring to a simmer, cook the sauce down a bit, 10 minutes or so, then remove from heat.

When you are ready to assemble the tart, use a spatula to spread half of the ricotta cheese across the base of the tart shell. Now spoon about half of the sauce over the ricotta and arrange half of the squash in a single layer on top of the sauce. If your squash is still quite wet, press it into some paper towels. I use my fingers for this next part. After spooning the remaining ricotta over the squash, push it around a bit with your fingers so that it forms a layer. Arrange another layer of squash and finish with the remaining sauce. You want the filling to nearly, but not quite fill the pan.

Place the tart on a rimmed baking sheet - in case you end up with an overflow - and bake for roughly 40 minutes or until the tart is cooked through. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Dust the top of this with a bit of Parmesan.

Serves 8