a whisk and a spoon

Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Ricotta-Tomato Tart

Our second savory tart in August, this Ricotta-Tomato Tart features big chunks of peak-season tomatoes and seasoned ricotta in a “proper” tart shell. I used a mix of red, orange and green tomatoes from the farmers’ market. They kept their juiciness but didn’t sog the tart crust out or bleed much into the cheese filling. The ricotta was seasoned with lemon, parsley and oregano. Another great savory bake for lunch or dinner from this book!

If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it twice a month. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!

Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Vegetable Ribbon Tart

This Vegetable Ribbon Tart is basically salad sitting on puff pastry. I like both those things, so I was game to make this for lunch. Not sure that leftovers would hold so well, I decided to make a smaller tart. I didn’t measure anything, but started by baking a rectangle of puff that looked just big enough for two. The base is topped with a thick smear of hummus and lots of thin-sliced and shaved veggies. I used carrots, cukes, red pepper, fennel, tomatoes and roasted beets tossed in a vinaigrette made with za’atar and a splash of sesame oil (this really makes the dressing, imo). It’s light and fresh and a jammy egg or two help make it more filling. If I make this again, I’ll try salt massaging the ribbons of carrot and cucumber to extract a bit of water before I dress them. I think it would make them more pliable and easier to curlicue around the tart.

If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it twice a month. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!

Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Fig and Goat Cheese Tart

Autumn’s coming, and while I feel sad that I probably have my last few nectarines (aka the absolute best fruit) of 2024 on my counter right now, I can also appreciate the good things the shift in seasons brings. Fresh figs come around this time of year, but they’ll be gone in a snap, so it’s nice to make something that showcases them, like this Fig and Goat Cheese Tart. The filling’s an easy, tangy mix of seasoned soft goat cheese and yogurt topped with a pile of fresh figs– some baked and some raw– glossed with balsamic vinegar. Because the goat cheese filling isn’t cooked, I wasn’t sure how the brisée crust would hold up over the course of a few days if I made a large tart, so I did just a couple of mini ones for a nice weekend lunch. This is easy and elegant, sweet and savory, summer and fall, all in one.

If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it twice a month. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!

Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Free-Style Mushroom, Herb and Ricotta Tart

Having “free-style” in the name of this Free-Style Mushroom, Herb and Ricotta Tart, to me, implies a certain ease… something that can just be tossed together on a whim. Turns out “free-style” is more about the amorphous shape of the crust and the casual-looking fashion with which it is topped than it is about throwing together a tart from this or that in like five minutes. The base of this tart, which is called a Raggedy-Edged Almond-Herb Crust is actually a large format cracker that can be whatever shape it rolls out to be. Bake the crust and you can turn off the oven. After it cools, it’s topped with made in advance components: an herby ricotta spread, sautéed mushrooms with more herbs and a poof of seasoned micro greens. The crust has the delicate, buttery crumb of a shortbread, and, although it cut nicely for me with a sharp knife, I had to turn my “slice” into smaller pieces to eat as snacky finger food…it didn’t seem like a fork was right utensil for the job. All of these things were delicious and flavorful, so I enjoyed this, although I’d also be totally happy to free-style the ricotta and mushrooms on just a thick slice of toasted sourdough.

If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it twice a month. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!

Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Double-Corn Tomato Crisp

Dorie’s Double-Corn Tomato Crisp may make you do a double-take if you see it on the counter. This sports a rubbly crisp topping made with cornmeal, but underneath you won’t find peaches or blueberries. Instead fresh corn kernels mingle with summer tomatoes and herbs. It proves that crisps aren’t just for dessert…they can be lovely savory side dishes, or even main courses, as we ate ours with a dollop of sour cream, a salad and a glass of wine.

If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it twice a month. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!

Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Smoked Salmon Roll-Up

Cream cheese and lox on an everything bagel, but make it a cake? Ok, here’s your Smoked Salmon Roll-Up. I do have a bagel shop less than a block from my house, but this is a cool idea and a fun twist on a favorite combo. A thin sponge with everything bagel seasonings gets rolled around a spiral of cream cheese and smoked salmon with dill, capers, chives, scallion and plenty of lemon juice. Everything is salty and zippy.

I’m the only real smoked salmon lover in this house, so I scaled this down to a third of the recipe and baked the sponge in an 8-inch square cake pan. My roll-up is tiny, but cute. I had a little crack in the center of my cake, so I decided to do the cucumber garnish on top to cover it up (a roll-up cover-up). Looking at this photo, I wish I’d shaved my cuke on the mandolin to look like fish scales, instead of just hand-slicing them and having them sit a little funny. A fun and tasty bake, though!

If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it twice a month. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!