Tomato, Basil, and Cheese Tart with Pancetta Crust

This recipe deserves a 5-star rating for the crust alone! But it doesn’t hurt that the 3-cheese and tomato filling is fabulous also.

The crust is a very basic short crust pastry with cooked pancetta added. I omitted the salt from the recipe as the pancetta seemed to have more than enough. I left the bacon pieces a little too large (the recipe calls for finely chopped) so the pastry cracked in a few places but it was easily patched. Apart from that, the dough was very easy to work with but did require a little chilling time before it was rolled and again before baking. I re-rolled the trimmings and baked them as savoury "cookies” “ I would make the dough just for this purpose “ they would be excellent served with cocktails!

The filling is a blend of ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan and basil layered with fresh tomato slices, salted to extract water then patted dry before using. I added salt to taste (~1/4 tsp) before adding the eggs instead or using the amount listed in the recipe.

The tart looked good and tasted wonderful. The tomatoes remained juicy and fresh tasting and though mine were pretty good, they weren’t stellar….I can just imagine how much better this tart will be when tomatoes are at their peak.