Savory Summer Squash & Tomato Tart

My family is sentimental. We like to hang on to things. I think my dad's parents—my oma and opa—instilled that in him. They came from Europe with nothing. All their keepsakes and things from childhood, pictures, even the country they were from (Yugoslavia): gone. So, I'm sure he grew up with that hang-on-to-everything you have mentality. My mom's parents, on the other hand, were children of the great depression. I remember a story about my grandma Carol's house burning down when she was a girl in Oklahoma, taking all her toys, clothes, and belongings with it. I'm sure that has something to do with my Mel's predilection for keeping things. Then Mel and John left the rural Southern California town they were from to come to Washington, and because of kids and finances and life, they don't make it back there as often as they'd like. I think this makes them sentimental for the places, people, and memories from their past. 

They passed this on to me. Every time I go home, I pour over old pictures, old things from my childhood. I take Evan around the property that he's seen a million times, pointing out spots where I used to play, the tree that I used to think I'd get married under, the place where I killed the spider that Amanda never forgave me for. 

My parents still have a lot of my childhood toys. Barbies in one bin, treasure trolls in another. And books. My RL Stine collection lives on—Fear Street from my middle school days, Goosebumps from elementary school. I had a lot of RL Stine books. And the picture books from when Amanda and I were little. I love looking through the books. 

Whenever I'm thinking of what to make with summer squash, I get a fleeting glimpse of a book from childhood—Squash Pie. So, when I went home last weekend, I dug out the book Squash Pie… to go along with the bounty of zucchini Mel was sending back to Seattle with me. The book (which is from the 70s and was passed down from my cousin Barb…and has Barbie, Room 8, written inside) is about an old farmer who plants summer squash because he's so stoked for squash pie. But every time the squash is just about ready to pick, someone steals it. The book doesn't actually pin it on her, but the farmer's wife is obviously the culprit. The night-thief's shadow is wearing a dress just like hers, and she's always trying to convince him to eat other kinds of pies—apple, cherry, etc—but he only wants squash pie. My favorite part is when she throws a bunch of ripe peaches on the ground, bakes them into a pie, and yells "there's your squash pie!". A real fiery lady, that farmer's wife. Anyway, I think she eventually gets fed up with his squash pie obsession, and they finally have a squash pie…which she admits is way better than all the other pies. Even the last squash pie, which just tasted like a peach pie. 

I always wondered what the squash pie they had tasted like. What it looked like. I was a weird kid that way. So I brought the book back to Seattle with me, and looked up squash pie. Apparently there's a sweet pie made with summer squash—that must be what the farmer was after. I, however, was after something a little different, something savory. Mel's been trying to get me to make this rustic summer squash tart for like five years now (it's one of my dad's faves), but I was never really interested. She photocopies and sends me the recipe every summer, and every summer, it gets deleted. I guess I'm kind of like that farmer's wife, because I finally made the damn squash tart, and whadaya know, it was delicious. I changed it up quite a bit—added caramelized onions and pine nuts, used oregano instead of thyme (simply because I'm out of thyme), omitted the roasted pepper, sprinkled parm on top. 

Even Evan, who claims to hate zucchini and was appalled by the idea of squash pie, loved it. 

PS: I know you're all in fall-mode now: butternut squash and pumpkins and what not, but you surely have a basket of late-summer squash and tomatoes still hanging out, begging to be used before you switch over completely. And this tart, while using up the last of summer's produce, taste a bit like fall with the blue cheese and pie crust. Just make it, already.

Summer Squash & Tomato Tart

Adapted from this recipe

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 medium yellow onion, sliced

2 cups-ish sliced (in rounds) mixed summer squash (zucchini, yellow squash, pattypan)

2 shallots, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon(s) chopped garlic

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

slat & pepper

Your favorite pie crust, chilled and rolled into 2 8-inch rounds

1 cup crumbled blue cheese

2 medium tomatos, sliced

1 large egg, beaten

Handful of parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 400°F. 

Add olive oil and butter to heavy-bottomed skillet, and heat over medium. Add onions and cooked until caramelized (here's a good how-to for caramelized onions). Add squash and shallots and cook, for a few minutes. Remove from heat and stir in oregano, garlic, salt, and pepper to taste.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and lay out the 2 dough rounds (you may need to bake in two batches, or just make 1 big tart). Sprinkle the blue cheese evenly over the two rounds, within 2 inches of the edge. Top with onion and squash mixture, and then with sliced tomato. Fold edge of the crust over and brush crust with beaten egg.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes until crust is golden. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Let cool slightly before eating (so the juices have time to settle). 

Queen of Tarts

It's a good thing I've taken up running, because lately I’ve been obsessed with tarts! I'm not just talking about fruit tarts… nor am I talking just savory tarts… I’m talkin’ buttery, cheesy, melt-in-your-mouth savory fruit tarts! I can’t stop thinking about them, dreaming about them, and making them (and then, of course, eating them)! The obsession began when a friend was on her way over for coffee, and requested snacks. With less than an hour until our coffee date, I frantically ripped open the cupboards looking for ‘snacks.’ No snacks were to be found. I took inventory of what I had, and decided to get creative. Strawberries. Cheese. A basil plant. To the average Joe it looked like it was going to be a fruit and cheese platter type of night. To me, it was the makings of a new creation!

I quickly got to work slicing strawberries, dicing red onion, mincing garlic, grating cheese, and plucking basil leaves off my basil plant (which gets very little sunlight but still seems to be thriving, unlike the purple plant, Barney, that I had to send to live with "aunt" Amanda). I mixed together the strawberries, red onion, garlic, and chopped basil, and added a splash of balsamic and olive oil. With that left to macerate, I pulled out my trusty Fannie Farmer. I whipped up the basic tart crust, and pressed it into a tart pan with a generous helping of grated parmesan cheese. I poured in the strawberry mixture, covered with a hearty layer of shredded jack, another handful of parm, and threw it in the oven, hoping for the best. To my surprise, it wasn’t half bad! To my guest’s surprise, it wasn’t just a bowl of chips or a fruit and cheese platter! With the first bite both of us were a little wary (strawberries and melty cheese!?) but by the end of the evening the tart was almost gone and I was pleased (she still seemed a little wary …).

All week I thought about the strawberry basil tart, with its simple buttery crust and fruit and cheese filling, and started to toss some new ideas around in my head... what if added bleu cheese, or maybe camembert? What would happen if I made a reduction with the vinegar? After awhile, my tart-dreams started to take off in wild tangents, and I wasn't even thinking strawberries anymore. A few ingredients kept popping up in my savory-fruit-tart fantasies. Brie, caramelized onions, and apples. I forgot about perfecting the strawberry basil tart, and set out to make a new savory fruit tart. I started out with the same basic Fannie Farmer tart crust… it’s so easy to make! Wanting to spice this diddy up a bit, I decided to break out the sausage. Evan recently bought an 800 pack (ok, so there are only 24…) of roasted garlic-gruyere sausages from Costco… shortly before he discovered that he no longer likes sausage due to a brat and hot dog overkill a few summers ago (I guess that’s what you get for eating bratwurst 3 times a day for 3 solid months… but hey, we all made our mistakes in college, right?)…needless to say, I have a freezer full of sausage. I combined the brie, caramelized onions, sausage, apples, and a honey-black pepper glaze to make a savory fruit tart good enough to write home about… or at least post here for you to enjoy!


Fannie Farmer’s Tart Crust

whisk together 1 cup flour with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cut in 6 tablespoons of cold butter-cubed- with fingers or a pastry blender, until mixture resembles tiny peas. whisk 1 egg yolk with 2 tablespoons cold water, and mix in with flour mixture. blend until smooth dough forms. Pat into bottom and sides of un-greased pastry or pie pan.


Apple Onion Tart

Layer the following into the tart crust, and bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and crust is golden.

1 sausage (any chicken sausage will work) - sliced paper thin
1 small wedge of brie- cut into small cubes or slices (enough to cover the sausage layer completely)
1 large yellow onion – sliced and caramelized (cook in skillet over medium heat with butter and olive oil until soft and brown- pour onions and drippings over brie layer)
1 medium sized granny smith apple – sliced thinly and neatly arranged on top

Let tart cool for 5 minutes. Mix 2 tablespoons of honey with a few drops of HOT water, until honey dissolves. Add a few twists of course ground black pepper, and brush over apples slices. Try to share with friends, or before you know it, the tart pan will be empty and you'll be squeezing into too-tight jeans come fall...