Zucchini, Goat Cheese and Lemon Tart

Last Year's Post: Cold Pasta Salad with Smoked Salmon, Peas and Asparagus
Two Years Ago:   Melon Ribbon Bowls

This beautiful and delicious tart originated with Maria Sinskey of Sinskey Vineyards, home of Ina Garten's favorite rose wine.  Ina was so impressed she included it in her new book, "Cooking for Jeffrey".  It tastes as good as it looks - maybe even better, because the picture doesn't tell you about the lemon and goat cheese under all that zucchini.  It's a perfect light summer meal with a glass of cold, bone-dry rose and would be equally impressive on a buffet table cut into thin slices.  I fiddled with the recipe only a little bit by cutting out the salt in the goat cheese mixture since the zucchini already has plenty of salt, and by upping the amount of lemon because it really tastes fabulous.  Be sure your goat cheese is at room temperature before you start, otherwise it will be too stiff to spread.

The homemade pastry crust is easy to work with and very light and flaky, but you could easily substitute a premade pie crust if you want. A great tip I recently learned for making a nice round crust - roll the dough out slightly larger than you need, then fold it in fourths and trim around the outside edge to make it even.

 It's going to be difficult (and time-consuming not to mention frustrating) to cut the zucchini slices thin enough and uniform enough without a mandoline so if you don't have one already I would suggest you buy one before trying this recipe -they're not expensive.  It's very useful for slicing all kinds of foods to a uniform thickness - it's invaluable for au gratin potatoes, for example.  Some mandolines have their own stand, but it stores more compactly without one.  The important part is to make sure it comes with different types of blades and that the slicing thickness is adjustable.

The original recipe uses only zucchini, but I added in some summer squash for a little color variation just for fun. The dough needs to chill for 30 minutes and the zucchini slices drain for 30 minutes so it takes a while to assemble plus it bakes for 40 to 50 minutes.  The good news is that I assembled the tart and put it in the refrigerator for 45 minutes while I ran an errand before baking without anything bad happening, so I assume you could assemble the tart an hour or so in advance.  In addition, it's just as good warm or at room temperature so you could bake it a few hours in advance of serving.  The next day the leftovers were equally good cold and the tart crust was still crisp and flaky.

print

Zucchini, Goat Cheese and Lemon Tart

Makes 1 (11”) tart; 6 main dish servings or 12 buffet servings

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into ½” cubes

½ teaspoon white wine vinegar

5 tablespoons ice water

1 ½ pounds zucchini (can substitute some yellow summer squash)

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

8 ounces plain creamy goat cheese, at room temperature

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves

Zest from one small lemon

Place the flour, ¾ teaspoon salt, and the butter in the bowl of a food processor and pulse 12 to 14 times, until the butter is the size of peas.  With the processor running, pour the vinegar and ice water through the feed tube and continue to process and pulse until the dough just comes together.  Dump out onto a floured board, form into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, slice the zucchini (and summer squash, if using) to 1/8” thick on a mandoline.  Place the slices in a colander set over a plate and gently toss with 2 teaspoons of salt (the salt will draw out some of the moisture).  Set aside for 30 minutes to drain.  Spread the slices out on a clean dish towel, cover with a second clean towel and gently pat to remove some of the moisture.  Place the slices in a bowl and gently toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

With a fork, mash together the goat cheese, thyme, lemon zest and ¼ teaspoon black pepper.  Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400d.

Roll the dough out on a floured board to an 11” circle (tip:  roll the circle slightly larger, then fold the dough into quarters and trim the outside edge to make a smooth circle).  Place the dough on a sheet pan line with parchment.  Spread the goat cheese mixture evenly on the dough leaving a ½” boarder.  Lay the zucchini slices in tightly overlapping circles, starting at the very edge of the dough (the zucchini will shrink as it bakes).  Continue overlapping circles of zucchini until the whole tart is covered.  Drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle with black pepper.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes until the dough is golden brown.  Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.