I have a little problem. I'm addicted to cookbooks, food writing, recipe collecting, and cooking. I have a lot of recipes waiting for me to try them, and ideas from articles, tv, and restaurants often lead to new dishes. I started losing track of what I've done. So now I'm taking photos and writing about what I've prepared—unless it's terrible in which case I forget it ever happened.
There were two tomato tarts vying for my attention. One of them was small and round and beautiful with various colors of cherry tomatoes on top. It was made with homemade pastry. The other was a delectable, large rectangle covered with red cherry tomatoes and herbs. That one was built on a base of store-bought puff pastry. In the end, my laziness won out, and using puff pastry from the store was the deciding factor. I did find a pretty mix of colorful, local, cherry tomatoes, so I achieved the look of the other tart somewhat. This herbed tomato tart is from The New Comfort Food. The simple look of the tomato topping belies the hidden combination of flavors. Before the tomatoes were placed on the tart, shredded parmigiano cheese was added and baked onto the pastry layer. Also, you'd never pick out the singular taste of anchovies here since they were finely chopped and tossed with the tomatoes before roasting, but they add an addictive, savory note. With rich, buttery pastry, sweet, roasted tomatoes, and the hidden umami of the cheese and anchovies, this tart tasted even better than expected.
Since I chose to make this out of laziness, it's obviously not difficult to prepare, but there are three steps to the process. First, two sheets of puff pastry were fitted into a sheet pan, docked and weighted to prevent puffing, and baked for 25 minutes. The pie weights were removed, and shredded parmigiano was spread over the tart shell. It baked for an additional 15 minutes. Then, the cherry tomatoes were tossed with olive oil, finely chopped anchovies, and I added a little minced garlic. The mixture was roasted under the broiler for about 12 minutes, and the pan was shaken a few times while roasting to turn the tomatoes. Last, the tart shell was filled with the tomato mixture, chopped basil, chives, and oregano were sprinkled on top, and it was baked for a last and final 15 minutes.
Even though the base of the pastry bakes up thin, and the toppings are mostly just fresh tomatoes and herbs, this is a rich and filling tart. The decadent, buttery, sweet, and savory flavors are perfect with a crisp, light salad, and a glass of wine. I'm glad my laziness got the better of me since I ended up learning the secrets of the hidden, big flavor in this simple tart.
We all have our favorite comfort foods. For years, my go-to comfort food meal was take-out shrimp fried rice and a vegetable egg roll. Of course, macaroni and cheese and pizza never disappoint in this area either. A lot of different dishes qualify as comfort food, and they all tend to be pretty universally appealing. The new book from Saveur, The New Comfort Food of which I received a review copy, shows off several such dishes. Everything in the book causes cravings, and the food comes from all across the globe. The cover photo sets the tone of the book with a look at a golden-brown and tantalizing potato gratin. Inside, you’ll also find delicious-looking huevos rancheros, New Orleans-style bbq shrimp, and chicken tikka masala among the more than 100 recipes. In the Baked Goods and Sweets chapter, every single thing is something I want this very minute. There’s ice cream with butterscotch sauce, caramel coconut flan, and buttermilk flapjacks. And, the black-and-white banana malted milk shake in the Drinks chapter distracts me every time I flip past that page. I’ll be spending a lot of time going from one section of this book to the next, but the first chapter I had to cook from was Pasta and Noodles.
This is exactly my favorite kind of pasta dish with the bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, white wine, fresh basil, and shellfish. The recipe comes from Figaretti’s restaurant in Wheeling, West Virginia. It’s a quick and easy dish to prepare, but you want to have all the ingredients prepped and ready before you start cooking. The water for the pasta should be boiling as you heat some olive oil in a large saute pan. Linguine was added to the boiling water as chopped green and red bell peppers were sauteed with onion and garlic. White wine and mussels were added to the vegetables, and the pan was covered for two minutes of cooking. The lid was removed, pasta water was added with shrimp, tomatoes, and some butter, and after a few stirs, the shrimp was cooked. Last, the cooked linguine was tossed with everything in the saute pan, and fresh basil was added. The pasta was served with asiago cheese and lemon wedges.
I don’t mind breaking the rule and adding a little grated cheese to the pasta despite there being seafood involved. It brought savoriness to the sweet peppers and tomatoes. Admittedly, almost any kind of pasta dish is comfort food to me, but one with white wine, butter, fresh basil, and shellfish is a treat. What’s your favorite comfort food?
. The simple look of the tomato topping belies the hidden combination of flavors. Before the tomatoes were placed on the tart, shredded parmigiano cheese was added and baked onto the pastry layer. Also, you'd never pick out the singular taste of anchovies here since they were finely chopped and tossed with the tomatoes before roasting, but they add an addictive, savory note. With rich, buttery pastry, sweet, roasted tomatoes, and the hidden umami of the cheese and anchovies, this tart tasted even better than expected. 
