ITALIAN ESSENTIALS: AWESOME PIZZA TART

Italian Essentials: Awesome Pizza Tart image

The three important components of a good pizza are the cheeses, filling, and the crust. This recipe uses standard components for the first two and switches out the crust for something buttery and flakey... a tart crust. It looks great and tastes awesome. I served it with chicken wings and cold beers. So, you ready... Let's...

Provided by Andy Anderson !

Categories Pizza

Time 1h5m

Number Of Ingredients 13

Ingredients

PLAN/PURCHASE
1 buttery tart crust, more on this later
8 oz italian sausage, mild or hot, your choice
1 - 2 large garden-fresh tomatoes
6 - 8 oz pizza sauce, or your favorite tomato-based sauce, more on this later
4 slice provolone cheese, 2 ounces
4 oz mozzarella, freshly grated
salt, kosher variety, for the tomatoes
OPTIONAL SPICES
dried basil
dried oregano
dried rosemary
dried fennel seed (i love fennel)

Steps:

1. PREP/PREPARE
2. Although not a necessity, if you have a tart pan, it makes for a brilliant presentation.
3. Savory Tart Crust If you want to save time, you can find decent tart crusts at the local grocer. Just make sure it is a savory, not sweet crust. If you are looking for an awesome, flaky tart crust, look no further: https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/dessert/pie/autumn-essentials-super-flaky-pie-tart-crust.html?r=10 Pizza Sauce Use your favorite tomato-based sauce; however, if you feel like making your own, here is brilliant one. If I do say so myself: https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/sauce-spread/other-sauce-spread/italian-essentials-awesome-pizza-sauce.html?r=1
4. Gather your ingredients.
5. Prebake your tart shell, according to recipe directions, and reserve.
6. Some "store-bought" tart shells come prebaked... If that is the case, you have my permission to skip this step.
7. Slice the tomatoes into 1/4-inch (.6cm) slices. You want 4 slices.
8. Lay them on paper towels, and sprinkle with salt. Allow them to sit for a about 30 minutes, then blot the tops with another paper towel, and reserve.
9. Thirty minutes is just the minimum amount of time; you could go up to an hour without a problem. What we are doing is removing as much of the water from the tomatoes as possible. That will prevent the pizza tart from becoming soggy, and we hate it when that happens.
10. While you're waiting for the tomatoes to release their moisture, cook the sausage in a sauté pan over medium heat until no pink remains. Then drain on paper towels and reserve.
11. While cooking, use a wooden spoon to break the sausage into small bits.
12. Place a rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 350f (175c).
13. Place the sliced provolone on the bottom of the prebaked tart crust. Add the sauce. Add the sausage. Add the tomatoes.
14. With the four slices of provolone, you should have enough to cover the bottom of the tart and come up about an inch (2.5cm) on the sides.
15. The provolone I used for this recipe was cut into 1/8-inch (0.4cm) thick, by 4-inch (10cm) diameter slices.
16. Top with the grated mozzarella.
17. Place the pie in the preheated oven and bake until the cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown, about 40 to 45 minutes.
18. PLATE/PRESENT
19. Let the tart cool about 10 - 15 minutes before serving.
20. Keep the faith and keep cooking.