TOMATO TART

"This tomato tart is served as a first course on Michel Guérard's "cuisine minceur" menu at his three-star restaurant. You'll see that he saves the core and stem of the tomato to use as part of the presentation on the plate. And the seeds are carefully removed with tweezers to retain the shape of the tomato, although you don't have to do that at home."

12 ounces fresh or frozen store-bought puff pastry
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
8 ripe plum tomatoes (4 ounces each), preferably with stem and a few leaves attached, cored (reserve core with stem and leaves for garnish)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Tabasco sauce (optional)
1 teaspoon NutraSweet (or 2 teaspoons sugar)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried)
GARNISH:
8 basil leaves

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Roll out the puff pastry to an 1/8-inch thickness. Lay an 8-inch flan ring over the pastry and cut 4 circles, each 8 inches in diameter.

Brush a large baking sheet lightly with 1 tablespoon olive oil and place the pastry circles on the sheet, leaving at least 2 inches between each one. Set aside in a cool place.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil and the chopped basil. Blend well and set aside.

Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add the cored tomatoes and blanch for about 10 seconds. Drain, cool, and peel. Slice tomatoes evenly into rounds 1/4-inch thick. Remove the seeds by gently pushing with fingers (or picking out with a tweezer), leaving the flesh intact.

In a small bowl, combine the tomato paste with half the olive oil mixture.

Prick the pastry circles all over with a fork, then spread the tomato paste-olive oil mixture evenly over each circle in a thin layer, leaving a clean edge of about 1/4 inch.

Lay the tomato slices on the pastry to cover the tomato paste-olive oil. Fill in the tomato centers with remaining slices to create a solid layer. Season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle lightly with Tabasco, if desired. Sprinkle lightly with NutraSweet or sugar and fresh thyme leaves.

Place the tarts in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush with any remaining basil-olive oil mixture.

Garnish with the tomato cores and fresh basil. Serve immediately.

Serves 4
Adapted from source: Pierre Franey Cooks with His Friends by Pierre Franey, Claudia Franey Jensen, Jean Cazals, and Martin Brigdale