Italian Tomato Tart

I’ve been wanting to make a quiche-type dish for awhile now, but I hadn’t found a recipe that caught my eye – until I read the April 2009 issue of Cooking Light.

I made this for lunch today… at 5pm (oops!)

Last night, Stas and I went out to a friend’s house in Boston with a few of my girlfriends. We got home around 3am (I think) and I woke up at 10am with a hangover. Needless to say, my day had a slow start

By the time I had breakfast and showered, it was 2:30pm and I realized I needed to go grocery shopping. Market Basket was a madhouse as usual. I got home around 4pm and was determined to make this tart.

Stas didn’t really know what to make of the tart – he hadn’t seen anything like it before. But he liked it – and I loved it!

It would be a great dish for a lunch party – or maybe as an appetizer for a dinner party. It might even be cute split up into 4 miniature pie pans (I’ll have to remember that for next time!)

Italian Tomato Tart
from Cooking Light, April 2009

Crust:

• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen long-grain brown rice (such as Birds Eye Steamfresh)
• 2 tablespoons commercial pesto
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 1 large egg
• Cooking spray

Filling:

• 1/2 cup fat-free milk
• 1/2 cup egg substitute
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1 ounce prosciutto, cut into thin strips
• 3 small plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil (optional, for garnish)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

To prepare crust, cook the brown rice according to directions on the package. Combine the cooked rice with the pesto, Parmesan cheese, and egg; firmly press mixture into the bottom and up sides of a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven.

the crust, before going into the oven

Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees F.

To prepare filling, combine the milk, egg substitute, salt, pepper, and egg in a bowl; stir with a whisk.

Sprinkle half of the mozzarella and half of the prosciutto into the bottom of the prepared crust. Top with half of the tomato slices. Repeat this procedure with the remaining mozzarella, proscuitto, and tomatoes. Pour in the milk mixture.

1 layer of mozzarella and prosciutto

all of the layers

after pouring in the milk mixture

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees (but do not remove tart from the oven); bake an additional 35 minutes, or until set. Cool 5-10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with basil (optional).

Serves 4.