Tomato Pesto Tart

I promise I'll chill out with the tomato recipes, I've just had to put them all to use before they rot away on my counter. Along with a gazillion other veggies. Okay, I'm exaggerating a bit, but you probably know the feeling. Way more produce to deal with this time a year than you simply have time for. It's really a great problem to have!

I've always thought I didn't care for tomatoes much, until I really ate one fresh from the garden. My parents were not much for gardening growing up; I do remember my grandma having a small garden though. The ones from the stores, especially in the dead of winter simply do not compare to seasonally, locally grown tomatoes. Now we try to enjoy as many as we can until we cannot stand to set eyes on one more. Because come January, we'd give our right arm for a red, ripe tomato from the garden.

I'm usually all for something sweet baked in a pie crust, not savory. But something about tomatoes, fresh pesto and mozzarella cheese sounded really good! And good is was. I had some prepared pie crusts and pesto in my freezer from all of my freezer cooking in July, it certainly made this dish easy to prepare.

We enjoyed this as part of our meal one night but it would absolutely make for a great meatless main dish. Pair with a nice green salad and you're set. Or what about as an appetizer? Football is just getting started, you could spread this into a rectangle shape and cut into squares instead of slices. So many options. All I know is you must give this one a try.

Tomato Pesto Tart

Ingredients:
1 prepared pie crust
1/4 cup pesto
3 large tomatoes
1 cup mozzarella cheese
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
Press pie crust into a tart pan. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

Slice tomatoes and let sit on paper towels for about 10 minutes to help absorb some of the liquid. Spread pesto over bottom of pie crust. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of cheese over pesto. Arrange tomato slices on top and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle remaining 3/4 cup of cheese on top.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 40-45 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool for a few minutes and then cut into slices.