Savory Ricotta Tart

Maybe it's a spring thing; the birds are singing, tree pollen is floating, the neighborhood squirrels are playing capture-the-female, and I can't stop thinking about tarts.






And while sweet fruit desserts like the rustic strawberry tart I made last week are nice, what I really yearn for when my stomach yells, "Tart!," is something savory. A sugar-loving pastry chef might disagree, but I find the balance of salt and fat, mixed with whatever herbs, veggies, cheeses or meats you use, much more compelling in a tart than the sour-sweet tang of fruit. And while the various combinations of nuts, fruits, chocolates and spices in dessert tarts are exciting, there's so much more to play with when you shun the sweet for the multifaceted world of animal, vegetable, mineral.

That said I find it hard to bake a tart just for the two of us. Would we eat it with greedy bites, toasted or out of the fridge, stone-cold, with guilty crumbs on our lips? Yeah. And we have. But tarts are so presentational that it's way more fun to bring them to parties for your friends to ooh and ahh over. Besides, it's a well-known fact that food tastes better when the cook's ego has first been seasoned with praise. (Oh, you know it's true. Don't even try to deny it.)


So it was that I found myself thinking about our friend Ryan's birthday party tonight, which led to thoughts about the half container of fresh ricotta on the floor of our fridge, which led to memories of Clothilde's amazing olive oil pastry crust which led to a reminiscence about last fall's tomato tart, which led to the unstoppable urge to make one, right now, for Ryan.

Obviously, this tart is for Ryan.


I started with David Lebovitz's recipe for an herbed ricotta tart, changing out the spring onions for a leek and some shallots. I also added fresh goat cheese to the ricotta to increase the tang, and mixed in fresh rosemary and thyme. My final substitution was to use a few pieces of crumbled, crisp bacon in place of the chorizo. Normally I love chorizo, but something about spicy sausage in a tart turned me off. And I'm sure it would be extra delicious to use crisped pancetta or prosciutto in place of either.

The extra 8 ounces of cheese made the tart bake a bit longer, almost an hour. Just wait until the middle sets before you take it out of the oven. Then, as it cools, sprinkle the top with some reserved fresh herbs. So pretty!

Savory Ricotta Tart (serves 8)

1 tart crust (olive oil or French butter, even puff pastry might do in a pinch)
8 ounces fresh ricotta
8 ounces fresh goat cheese (mine was covered in crushed herbs)
1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme, rosemary, or any combination of herbs you like, plus a few springs for garnish
1/2 lb leek, thinly sliced
2-4 shallot cloves, thinly sliced (optional)
3-4 pieces of bacon, crisped and crumbled
1/2 C heavy cream or creme fraiche
1/2 C whole milk
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and grease your tart pan if it isn't a non-stick.

1) Follow your preferred tart pastry recipe, chilling the dough once it's in the pan.
2) While the crust is chilling, thinly slice and wash the leeks. I find it easiest to slice the leeks, pile them into a bowl, cover the whole mess with cold water, and let the leeks soak to draw off the sand and dirt. (The sand will float to the bottom.) After 10 minutes or so, drain the leeks and rinse well.
3) Thinly slice the shallots.
4) Add the leeks and shallots, along with a pinch of salt and pepper, to a hot pan with a bit of butter, olive oil, or leftover bacon fat in it. Cook over medium heat until tender. Add the chopped herbs and let cool.
5) In a bowl, mix together the ricotta, goat cheese, milk, cream, egg, bacon, leek mixture, and any additional herbs. I added 1 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of pepper.
6) Pour the filling into the crust and bake until the middle sets and the top of the tart is golden brown, 35-60 minutes.