Special Tomato Crostata

It's tomato season at the farmer's market. Every week I think I am buying too many but we make our way through all of them.

 I do not know why it took me so long to track down this recipe after being served three years ago. Of course it's a @clarkbar from @nytcooking; Tomato Crostata With Honey-Thyme Glaze. It all works so well together, the Summer sweet tomatoes, cornmeal in the crust (ours was GF), the thyme in the garlic oil to the use of sharp cheddar in the crust and as the base. Certainly you may use different cheese but I encourage you to try the cheddar the first time. Go, make this recipe...

Here is the recipe from the NYTimes how I used it. The original link is above:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornmeal - I used Bob's Red Meal medium grind
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into small cubes NOTE: the second time I made this, I did not make cubes small enough and the crust melted more in the oven and did not keep it's shape.
  
• 1/2 cup extra-sharp Cheddar

Make in a food processor or in a bowl as you would a pie crust. Mix the ingredients, pulse until granular. Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time, up to 6 tablespoons, pulsing or mixing until mixture is just moist enough to hold together. Wrap  dough as a ball, in plastic and flatten into a disk. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

• 1 1/2 lbs of multi-colored tomatoes sliced
• 1 teaspoon of salt

Meanwhile, line a rimmed baking sheet with a double layer of paper towels. Spread out tomato slices in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and let sit for at least 1 hour or longer

Next

• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• ½ bunch fresh thyme sprigs, plus 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves. The second one I made with chopped rosemary
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• garlic

In a skillet over medium heat, combine vinegar, honey and thyme sprigs (or other herbs) and bring to a simmer; let simmer 2 minutes, then transfer to a bowl. Wipe out skillet, then add olive oil and garlic. Cook garlic for 2 to 3 minutes, or until garlic is golden and caramelized. Remove garlic and finely chop. Reserve garlic oil.

Forming Crust

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Gently roll out dough to a 1/4-inch thickness, dusting with flour if dough is sticking. Transfer dough to baking sheet and return to fridge for another 20 minutes.

• 1 cup Cheddar, grated 
•  Black pepper, to taste
• 1 large egg
•  Flaky sea salt, like Maldon

(This part is directly from theNYT)
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Pat tomatoes dry with paper towels. Brush tomatoes with honey mixture (reserve the thyme sprigs). Leaving a 3-inch border, distribute cheese, garlic and half the chopped thyme leaves on center of crust. Add black pepper to taste, then layer tomatoes in an overlapping pattern, maintaining the 3-inch border. Drizzle garlic oil over tomatoes, sprinkle with remaining thyme leaves and lay the reserved whole thyme sprigs on top. Gently fold crust up around tomatoes, making a 2-inch border.

In a small bowl, whisk egg and 1 teaspoon water. Using a pastry brush, brush egg wash over crust and sprinkle top of crostata with flaky salt. Bake for about 35 minutes, until pastry is deeply golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

 Our entire family loved this recipe. We ate it with a salad, artichoke and green beans. I made it again, this time, visiting with my friend from Rome. I did not pay attention to the recipe and made a few mistakes but it still was the center of our table and we devoured every bite.

 

Millie Lottie at the Farmer's Market