Roasted Tomato and Zucchini Tarts

Backyard dinners have a whole new life this summer. With the COVID raging its way through the US, we’ve basically taken to imagining the backyard as a little-known, outdoor cafe where you can escape for a leisurely, relaxing meal beneath the redwoods. The suspension of disbelief gets us through the cooking and the eating; it’s the cleaning and doing dishes bit where the fantasy starts to crumble.

Melissa Clark’s recipes continue to rock my world. These tarts are very summery and worked well with David Lebovitz’s Fennel, Radish, Orange and Crab Salad.

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE CRUSTS

• ¾ cup (97 grams) all-purpose flour
• ½ cup (77 grams) whole-wheat flour
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 10 tablespoons (1¼ sticks / 141 grams) unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes, plus more for greasing
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons ice water, plus more as needed

FOR THE FILLING

• 1 pound zucchini, trimmed and cut into ½-inch cubes
• 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
• 1½ teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more as needed
• Freshly ground black pepper, as needed
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ cup (4 ounces) fresh whole-milk ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons mixed chopped fresh herbs, such as parsley, thyme, and chives
• 1 small garlic clove, finely grated or minced
• 5 tablespoons (1¼ ounces) finely grated Parmesan cheese

1. Make the crusts: Using the ingredients listed above, prepare the crust according to the directions on this page, adding the egg yolk along with the ice water. Gather the dough into a ball and then form it into a disk. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 1 hour. (Note that this sticky dough comes together best in the food processor—which distributes the butter and egg more evenly—but you can do it by hand.)
2. Heat the oven to 375°F.
3. Grease 8 cups of a standard 12-cup muffin tin, leaving the other 4 cups ungreased (or use two 6-cup pans). Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces, shape each one into a golf ball–size sphere, and roll each ball out to form a ⅛-inch-thick round. Press each round into a greased muffin cup and lightly crimp the edges. Nestle a second muffin pan on top of the first to help weight down the crusts. (If you don’t have a second muffin tin, crumple up balls of foil and place them in each dough-lined muffin cup instead; the goal here is to keep the pastry from shrinking too much.) Transfer the muffin tin(s) to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the top tin (or foil balls) and continue to bake until the bottom of each crust is just dry to the touch, about 5 minutes more. Transfer the muffin tin to a wire rack to cool.
4. Prepare the filling: While crusts cool, raise the oven temperature to 400°F.
5. In a bowl, toss the zucchini and tomatoes with the rosemary, salt, pepper, and oil. Spread the mixture out on a rimmed baking sheet and roast it, tossing the vegetables occasionally, until they are tender and light golden, about 25 minutes.
6. In a small bowl, whisk together the ricotta, egg, mixed herbs, and garlic. Season with a large pinch each of salt and pepper.
7. Spoon an equal amount of the ricotta mixture (about a heaping tablespoon) into each cooled crust. Top the ricotta with the roasted vegetables. Sprinkle the Parmesan over the top. Transfer the muffin tin to the oven and bake until the tarts are bubbling and golden, about 25 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.

From Dinner in French by Melissa Clark

Croque Monsieur and French Onion Soup

Croque Monsieur and French Onion Soup

Cold rainy days always make me want soup.  I love the way the house smells with a big pot of soup simmering on the stove and I love the delicious, piping hot result even more.  I was having visions of French onion soup from the moment the rain on the window woke me up.  French onion soup is one of my favorite things in the world.  I’m on a quest to find the best one;  I order it every time I see it on a menu.  One of my favorite memories ever was exploring Paris with Brian in the snow, going from cafe to cafe ordering soupe à l’oignon gratinée (they leave the “French” part off there because you can take that for granted) and croque monsieur.  We’d get a bottle of wine and sit for a couple hours and revel in the Parisian-ness of it all.  I can’t think about it too much without reaching for my passport. 

I have to say, I think one of the best versions of the croque monsieur comes from Tartine in the Mission.  The problem is that if you go early enough to avoid the ridiculous and infuriating line that usually stretches halfway down the block, you’re too early for croque monsieur.  I found a similar recipe on food.com and made some adjustments.  I ended up using Swiss cheese instead of gruyere because that’s what was in the fridge, the key is the béchamel sauce.  To round it out, I pickled some carrots to go on the side.  The soup started from a recipe I found at All Recipes.

French Onion Soup 

• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 5 medium yellow onions, sliced
• 5 1/4 cups of rich beef stock
• 2 Tbsp dry sherry
• 3/4 cup red wine
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 cup Swiss cheese, grated
• 1/2 Parmesan cheese, grated
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper
• 4 slices of rustic bread, toasted

Directions

1. Melt butter with olive oil in an 8 quart stock pot on medium heat. Add onions and continually stir until tender and translucent. Continue cooking on medium-high heat until onions begin to brown (about 45 minutes).
2. Add beef broth, sherry, wine, garlic  and thyme. Season with salt and pepper, and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Heat the oven broiler.
4. Ladle soup into oven safe serving bowls and place one slice of toasted bread on top of each. Layer each slice of bread with a mixture of the grated cheeses. Place bowls on cookie sheet and broil in the preheated oven until cheese bubbles and browns slightly.

Weight Watchers Points Plus Value: 12

Croque Monsieur

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup 2% milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 Tbsp pastis (I used absinthe)
• 1 cup Swiss cheese, grated (divided use)
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 4 thick slices country French bread
• 4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 6 ounces applewood-smoked ham, thinly sliced
• 2 tomatoes

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400.

To Make Bechamel Soubise Sauce

1. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and sweat the garlic and onions over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring often.
2. Add the flour all at once, whisking with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes. Stir in the hot cream and cook, whisking constantly, for 5 minutes or until sauce is thickened.
3. Remove from heat and stir in the salt. pepper, nutmeg, Pastis, 1/4 cup grated Swiss and the Parmesan; set aside.

To Assemble the Sandwiches

1. Brush Dijon mustard evenly on one side of half the toasted bread slices. Slather each piece with the béchamel sauce.  Divide ham evenly between the slices, top with sliced tomatoes and remaining cheese.
2. Bake for 5 minutes at 400 degrees F. Turn on the broiler and broil for 3 to 5 minutes, until cheese starts to brown.
3. Cut in half and serve hot.

Weight Watchers Points Plus Value: 6

If you have leftovers, store them in the fridge over night, then heat them in the oven at 400 for ten minutes and top with a poached or fried egg for breakfast and you have croque madame.

Pan Bagnat

Pan Bagnat

Working in the Richmond District of San Francisco, one of my favorite places to go for lunch is Cafe Rigolo.  The French do lunch (and really, all food) so well, it’s hard not to turn to a little French bistro for lunch to remind you that there’s beauty in the world.  It always makes things better.  Every time I go to Cafe Rigolo, I order the same sandwich, so when I saw a version of it on Food 52, it seemed like a sign.  I had to make it.  I’m so glad I did.  This is one of the best things we’ve made in a long time.  So light and delicious and wonderful.  We served it for dinner with a broccoli kale soup (which I’ll be posting in a minute).  It’s one of those things that you make where you plan when you’re going to make it again while you’re eating it.  Sooooooo GOOD!  Good company and a glass of chardonnay knocks it out of the park!

• 1/2 loaf crusty French baguette (being San Franciscans, we used a sourdough baguette to great effect)
• 1 clove garlic, cut in half
• 4-6 basil leaves
• 1 (6oz) can tuna
• 3/4 cups Nicoise or Kalamata olives, sliced
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, seeded and sliced thin
• 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup Italian flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 jar or can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (optional)
• 1/4 cup blanched French green beans, sliced into thirds (optional)
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. PREP THE BREAD: Slice the loaf of bread in half lengthwise. Remove some of the insides of the bottom half to create a trough into which the filling will go. Brush both halves with a little extra virgin olive oil. Rub each with the garlic. Line the half with the trough with the basil leaves. Then mince the garlic and sprinkle it over the bread.
2. MIX THE SALAD: In a mixing bowl, combine the tuna, olives, red bell pepper, onion, parsley, artichoke hearts (if using) and green beans (if using). In a measuring cup or small bowl, whisk the lemon juice into the olive oil until it is emulsified/combined. Pour the vinaigrette into the tuna mixture and stir to combine. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper.
3. ASSEMBLE: Spoon tuna mixture into the trough of the baguette over the basil leaves.