Garden Surplus? Make Friends who are Good Cooks

Garden Surplus?  Make Friends who are Good Cooks

This week marks the 166^th Muskingum County Fair.  This also means that you will find the Farmers’ Market in downtown Zanesville rather than at the Fairgrounds.  This weekend we will once again be set up on the North end of Third Street in front of the Freight Shops.  The hours remain the same, from 9:00-Noon.  It is a fun change of pace to have market in a different spot and harkens back to the old days when downtown was bustling with business on a Saturday morning.  We hope you come out to see us.

            Everyday I am more and more amazed at the amount of produce coming out of my garden.  The buckets, baskets, and bins full of goodies keep piling up—and we can’t even get everything picked.  This is the time of year when I think back to all of those little seed packets that filled a couple of boxes in the spring, and can’t believe that these endless bushels of vegetables are what came of them.  Even if you are a backyard gardener who put in, say, a dozen tomato plants, the pounds and pounds of tomatoes that you will hopefully harvest off of just those few plants can be overwhelming.

            I seem to be on a lucky streak of making new friends who are wonderful cooks.  I gladly share my vegetables with them in hopes that I can have a little taste of their creations.  The following recipe came from one such friend, Lindsay, who recently re-located to Zanesville.  As soon as I saw the picture she posted on Facebook of this delicious tart, I knew I had to get the recipe.  The different colors of the heirloom tomatoes really give this dish a beautiful presentation.

Heirloom Tomato and Mozzarella Tart

Crust Ingredients:

·         ½ cup all-purpose flour

·         ½ cup whole-wheat flour

·         ¼ tsp. salt

·         ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

·         2 cups freshly ground parmesan cheese

·         ½ cup unsalted butter, chilled and diced

·         2-3 Tablespoons ice cold water

Filling Ingredients:

·         1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese, grated

·         Six mixed color heirloom tomatoes, washed and sliced ¼ inch thick

·         ¼ cup fresh basil, roughly chopped

·         1 Tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped

·         3 Tablespoons scallion greens, chopped

·         2 Tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 375º.  To make crust: put the flours, salt, pepper, Parmesan, and butter into a food processor.  Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  With the motor running, drizzle in the water until the dough starts to stick together.  Press the dough into a 9 to 10 inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Place in the refrigerator for about 15 min.  Prick the bottom of the crust all over with a fork.  Line with parchment paper then fill with dried beans or pie weights.  Bake for about 15 min. then remove the parchment and weights, return pastry shell to oven and bake until golden, about 15 min. longer.  Let cool completely.  Reduce oven to 350º.  To make filling:  Sprinkle 1/3 of the mozzarella over the bottom of the pastry shell.  Arrange 1/3 of the tomato slices on top of the cheese.  Sprinkle with 1/3 of the basil, oregano, and scallion greens.  Repeat this step two more times then drizzle with oil.  Bake until the mozzarella has melted, 15-20 min, and serve hot or at room temperature.