Tomato Cheddar Crostata 

There’s just no faking a summer tomato, out of season versions pale in comparison. When in season from your farmers market or your own garden, make everything you can to enjoy tomatoes while at their best.  

This is a tomato pie, highlighting just the tomato.  We were inspired by Melissa Clark’s crostata, but went even simpler on flavor for this version, and made a few changes to make it far less salty with more tomatoes and quite a bit easier to assemble.   

Crust Ingredients

1 cup flour
½ cup cornmeal
¼ teaspoon salt
5 ounces / 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1/2 cup sharp cheddar

Filling Ingredients

3 large, very ripe tomatoes or 1 pound cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup cheddar
Salt and Pepper
1 tablespoon local honey  
1-2 tablespoons unsalted butter
5-6 large fresh basil leaves 

Dough Instructions

In a food processor, add flour, salt, cornmeal, then add cubed butter and cheese together. Pulse until the mixture comes together into large crumbs. Add just enough cold water to bring dough together, up to 6 tablespoons.

We put dough on parchment (we don’t use plastic anything here) shaped into a flattened disk and chilled for 2 hours.

Making Crostata

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Pull dough from refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes to soften slightly for more pliable rolling.

Meanwhile, cut just the bottoms off the tomatoes then slice in ¼ to ½ inch slices. Set aside.

Roll out the crostata to 12 inch circle directly on the parchment.
Place the crostata crust on the parchment on a sheet pan.
Cover the center of the crostata with additional ½ cup of cheddar cheese, leaving about a 3-inch perimeter.
Layer the tomatoes over the cheese in an overlapping pattern.
Sprinkle the top of the tomatoes with a touch of salt, freshly ground black pepper.
Drizzle honey over top of tomatoes.
Gently fold the crostata crust around the tomatoes using an overlapping pattern. (Using the parchment to repeatedly lift the edges from underneath the crostata is often helpful.)
Top the tomatoes with small dots of 1-2 tablespoons butter.

Bake for 30-35 minutes at 425 degrees, turning once if crostata is browning more on one side.
Top with torn basil to serve.