Ricotta and eggplant tart with slow roasted cherry tomatoes
giugno 3, 2010

One of my best recipes – humbly speaking – before getting to London: OHMYGODIMSOTHRILLED! Finally, after months and months of chats, e-mails, dreams and great expeectations, the moment of the food blogger event of the year – Food Blogger Connect – has come! And I’m ready, almost packed, to live one of the most eciting experiences of my life. Foodies I’m coming!
This tart shell made with spelt flour and stuffed with ricotta, eggplant and sour cream is one of my most successful recipes. I’m very proud, yes! It is, apparently, a long and laborious recipe, but the important thing is to do everything step by step, and you’ll get through without even noticing! Let’s start with the slow roasted tomatoes. Compared to all the recipes I found on the Internet, mine asks for whole tomatoes, not cut in a half. This produces a surprise effect that I find barely amazing: the tomato explodes in your mouth and releases all its Mediterranean flavor. Obviously you can make slow roasted tomatoes in abundance, and store them in extra virgin olive oil to serve them as a last minute side dish!

Ingredients for spelt pastry case:
- spelt flour, 175 gr
- butter, 75 gr
- oregano, 1 tablespoon
- egg, 1 white and yolk separated
- salt and pepper
- cold water, 2 tablespoons
Ingredients for the stuffing:
- organic ricotta cheese, 300 gr
- sour cream, 250 ml
- eggplant, 1
- salt and pepper
- oregano
- extra virgin olive oil
Ingredients for slow roasted tomatoes:
- cherry tomatoes
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper
- oregano
- garlic, 1 clove
Making slow roasted tomatoes: Preheat oven to 160°C, wash the tomatoes and arrange them in a baking dish, season them with extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and plenty of oregano. Cut garlic finely and scatter over tomatoes. Bake for one hour, until they are wrinkled but still of a nice bright red.
Making ricotta filling: while tomatoes are in the oven, bake the eggplant as well, cut in half lengthwise, pricked and sprinkled with a little olive oil. Bake for about 45 minutes, until it is soft and well cooked. Remove it from the oven and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. Cut the flesh with a knife and reduce it to small pieces, mix everything with the ricotta and sour cream. Season with olive oil, salt, pepper and oregano and set aside.
Making spelt pastry case: rub the butter into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the oregano, salt and pepper. Beat the egg with two tablespoons of cold water and mix into the flour: knead until it forms a soft and elastic dough. Wrap in clingfilm andchill for 30 minutes. Use to line a a tart tin, prick the base with a fork and chill again for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 200°C.
Line with foil or baking parchement, then fill with baking beans. Bake blind for about 10 – 12 minutes. Remove the foil and baking beans and return the pastry case to the oven for a further 5 – 7 minutes t dry out completely. To prevent pastry from becoming soggy from the filling brush the blind-baked case with beaten white egg and bake againfor 5 – 10 minutes until set and shiny.
Final assembly. Once cold, remove the case from the baking tin and pour the ricotta and eggplant mixture in, then arrange the roasted tomatoes over the surface. Sprinkle with roasted tomatoes juice and olive oil. Serve as appetizer or as a main dish, with a rocket and tomatoes salad.

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Summer RoundUp #9: Strawberry Shortcake, Paula {Bell'Alimento}






giugno 3rd, 2010 at 09:26
Bellissima ricetta, adoro le melanzane, la proverò ciaooooo
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giugno 3rd, 2010 at 11:35
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by gastroanthropology, Giulia Scarpaleggia. Giulia Scarpaleggia said: *New Post* Ricotta and eggplant tart with slow roasted cherry tomatoes http://bit.ly/cb4V4d and definitely ready for London and #FBC10! [...]
giugno 3rd, 2010 at 14:02
[...] More: Ricotta and eggplant tart with slow roasted cherry tomatoes | Juls … [...]
giugno 3rd, 2010 at 14:38
This looks just wonderful!
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giugno 3rd, 2010 at 16:22
Oh my goodness! This is looks incredible. How am I just discovering this blog now??? Good stuff.
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giugno 3rd, 2010 at 18:30
Beautiful tart shell. Love the sound of this tart. It’s a great spring recipe.
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giugno 3rd, 2010 at 19:16
Fantastic! This is a must save, love all of the flavors:)
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giugno 3rd, 2010 at 19:52
Thanks for the recipe. I like the idea of roasting tomatoes as a whole.
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giugno 3rd, 2010 at 21:57
Ma che buono! Devo farlo al piu’ presto! Baci!
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giugno 3rd, 2010 at 23:30
Nice, nice, nice! Roasted cherry tomatoes always top my white bean dip, and get squished on top of our pizzas, etc., but atop an eggplant/ricotta tart is genious! Lovely photographs as well.
Enjoy London for us all!
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giugno 4th, 2010 at 03:48
Everything about this delicious looking tart sounds amazing… thank you for sharing
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giugno 4th, 2010 at 11:48
so beautiful and yummy too!!
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giugno 4th, 2010 at 23:30
This looks amazing… My mouth is watering!!!!
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giugno 5th, 2010 at 04:09
That is one good looking tart! I love the combination of flavors…Great recipe
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giugno 5th, 2010 at 04:33
Perfect summery tart!, I love the idea of mixing ricotta with eggplant. so clever.And about what you slow roasted tomatoes “.. explodes in your mouth and releases all its Mediterranean flavor…”. I couldn’t agree more.
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giugno 7th, 2010 at 16:38
What a beauitful dish! Congrats!
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giugno 8th, 2010 at 10:45
What gorgeous recipes! I can’t wait to try those yummy looking meatballs. It was lovely to meet you at Food Blogger Connect.
Pascale (Extra-Relish)
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giugno 8th, 2010 at 18:07
Wow, I love the look of this tart! And nice shallow depth of field in your photo
It was absolutely lovely to meet you over the weekend, I’ve added your blog to my blogroll, so will be stopping by regularly from now on
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giugno 10th, 2010 at 02:31
What a lovely dish! I’ll definitely have to make this sometime soon. I love eggplant and roasted tomatoes!
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giugno 11th, 2010 at 18:03
[...] my recent favorites. In fact, I like it so much that I couldn’t decide whether to include the Ricotta and Eggplant Tart with Slow Roasted Cherry Tomatoes or the Pork Meatballs with Orange and Wild Fennel. So, I’m sharing both with you. Seriously, [...]
giugno 21st, 2010 at 14:37
This looks lovely! Thanks for stopping by zested and introducing me to your site.
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giugno 12th, 2011 at 20:16
The roasted tomatoes technique alone is worth double the price of admission. I just had this for lunch. thanks for posting
Hugh in Dallas
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marzo 28th, 2013 at 17:14
[...] Eggplant and Ricotta Tart with Roasted Tomatoes [...]
aprile 17th, 2013 at 00:13
[...] Eggplant and Ricotta Tart with Roasted Tomatoes [...]