Cherry Tomato Tart with Burnt Scallion Ricotta

This cherry tomato tart is the sort of thing I make when the refrigerator is full of summer odds and ends – a container of ricotta, an egg, some scallions and chives, and a bit of chili crisp. I briefly considered doing a thick swipe of mustard instead of the chili crisp, but a bit of heat felt right with the sweet tomatoes. I keep a few all-butter pie crusts in the freezer, so I thawed one overnight before pulling everything together. 

This isn’t a difficult tart to make, but it’s not a “throw it together in 15 minutes” situation either. There’s the pie dough to thaw, roll out, and par-bake. You pre-roast the scallions and tomatoes, which you can do up to a couple days ahead. The filling comes together in a flash after that. It’s the type of recipe to enjoy on a slow summer afternoon if you’re excited about making a beautiful tart and happy to spend some time in the kitchen.

The Ingredients

Let’s talk through a few details related to the ingredients.

• Scallions: First up – you want to deeply roast these. Go hard. In the recipe down below, I have you do it in the oven, but you could certainly do a version on the grill if that’s more convenient. See the color at the edges of these scallions? You might go even darker.
  

  
  You let them cool and crisp up, and then cut them into little flecks (pictured below). Half of these will get folded into your ricotta tart filling, and the other half will be sprinkled across the tart as a final touch.
  

  

  Cherry Tomatoes: You’re going to roast these as well, at the same time and temperature as the scallions. This will concentrate the flavor of the tomatoes, and allow them to release some of their water. The recipe tells you to halve the tomatoes, but if you get small ones its fun to leave them whole.
  

  

  Whole almonds: Might as well toast them at the same time as the scallions and tomatoes. You can see I cut each almonds into little chunks to maximize toasty crunch. Alternately, use another nut if that is what you keep on hand. Pine nuts would be great, hazelnuts are a good option, and I wouldn’t say no to pistachios either!

The trickiest part about making a tart like this one is sticking the landing on the crust. Timing is everything. I think a lot of people tend underbake the crust at both stages – the par-bake, and the fully assembled bake. So(!), look for light golden toasty color when you first par-bake the shell, before the filling stage. Let it cool completely. Then, once it is filled and placed in the oven you want the filling to set in the time it takes the crust to get deeply golden. If the crust looks beautifully browned, there’s a good chance you’ve nailed it. And one more idea to consider if chili crisp isn’t your thing. Do a nice, thin layer of good pesto across your crust before filling with the ricotta – an A+ alternative!

More Tomato Recipes

If your kitchen looks anything like mine this time of year, some other ways to use tomatoes might be helpful. Some favorite recipes: