Bite Of Minnesota: Zucchini Tart

It was a busy weekend at the market with an abundance of colorful produce at every turn. Crates of melons, bushels of tomatoes and peppers, and plenty of green made up the color palate as I walked the aisles of the Minneapolis Farmers Market.

After making the roasted sun gold tomato sauce last week, I had to make another batch for my upcoming book club/birthday celebration and was on the hunt for sun gold tomatoes. Luckily I found them at Rolf's Produce and dashed home to make more sauce for one of my favorite zucchini recipes from 101 Cookbooks.

This is not a quick and simple recipe, but rather a labor of love as it takes many steps to execute from scratch but it's well worth it in the end. You could easily substitute a pie crust but it just isn't the same as the nutty, buttery, cheesy crust that I make for this dish. Spend some time in the kitchen this weekend and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Zucchini Tart
(adapted from 101 Cookbooks)

For tart crust:
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup shredded Parmesan
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into small squares
2 tbsp ice water

For tart:
2 large zucchini or yellow squash, thinly sliced
1 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cup roasted sun gold tomato sauce (or prepared pasta sauce)

To make the tart, pulse flours, Parmesan, and butter in a food processor until you have pea sized pieces of butter, being careful to not over process. Mixture should still be sandy. Add ice water and pulse a few more times before turning out into a tart pan. Press dough up the sides of the tart pan and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove tart crust from refrigerator and using a fork, poke holes throughout crust. Line crust aluminum foil and fill with pie weights. Bake for 15 minutes, let cool enough to remove foil and pie weights and bake again for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool before using.

For the filling, sprinkle kosher salt over zucchini slices and let sit for an hour or so to extract excess moisture. When ready to use, dab dry with a towel.

When ready to assemble the tart, spread 3/4 cup ricotta over tart crust, using a spatula to even it out. Add 1/2 of sun gold sauce and place a layer of zucchini on top of sauce. Spread remaining ricotta over zucchini, layer remaining zucchini, and top with remaining sauce. Place tart on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.