MEDITERRANEAN TART

this time last year we were anticipating our trip to milos, and right now i’m missing the mediterranean- the sea, the food, the people.  so i whipped up this tart to bring us right back there, it seemed like the right thing to do.  i am a forever fan of the combination of red onion, tomato and eggplant, they just seem to belong together, you know?  while this tart may not be the prettiest thing i’ve made, i have to say it’s up there with the tastiest.  the flaky savory herbed crust, fresh summer pesto, grilled vegetables and greek olives.  i may or may not be salivating while typing this.  hope you love as much as i do!  xx- sarah  {more after the jump}

ok, so this recipe has way more ingredients and appears to be way more effort than my normal posts.  but i promise, it’s super easy and so worth all of the effort!  (it’s especially easy if you prep the pesto in advance).  best of all it’s the kind of dish you could prepare when entertaining and you’re pals would think you’re a kitchen goddess.  that’s always worth a bit of extra effort!  i would probably spend an entire day in the kitchen for the chance to enjoy this herb crusted goodness, so there’s also that.

INGREDIENTS:

crust:

2 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup + 2.5 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup + 1.5 tablespoons  very cold club soda (use a little bit more or less to make a soft but non sticky dough)

 1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried basil

topping: 

2 heirloom tomatoes

2 medium japanese eggplant

1 medium purple onion

greek olives (the amount i’ll leave up to your preference)

extra virgin olive oil

sea salt

fresh cracked pepper

cracked red pepper

prepare pesto (recipe here) and set aside

prepare the crust: 

– preheat oven to 400 degrees

– combine flour, salt, oregano, thyme, basil and rosemary.  whisk to combine

– in a separate bowl whisk together olive oil and club soda until creamy

– combine the flour mixture and the oil mixture, mix with a fork just enough to combine

– use your hands to form the mixture together into a ball (handle the dough as little as possible for the flakiest results!)

– wrap ball in plastic and refrigerator for 5- 10 minutes

– remove dough from refridgerator, seperate into two pieces.  place dough half between two pieces of waxed paper and gently roll flat (roll in one direction only).  you can roll them into whatever shape your like, i chose rectangular so they wouldn’t look like pizza!  trim edges if you’d like.  repeat with second ball of dough.

– pierce crusts with a fork and bake on wax paper for 12 -15 minutes (or until golden)

prepare vegetable topping:

– slice eggplants in half, cut tomatoes into thick slices, cut onion into fat rings.  coat all in extra virgin olive oil, season with salt and pepper

– grill vegetables (i used a grill pan) until lightly charred

– chop eggplant and onions into 1″ chunks

assemble tarts:

– spread pesto onto tart crusts

– layer tomatoes in a row down the center of the tarts

– pile eggplant and onions on top, season with sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper and cracked red pepper

– slice greek olives and add to top

–  pop into the oven for 5 minutes to warm if needed

– serve hot and enjoy!

*recipe adapted from here