Part 1 of Nana’s Cooking Class! – A delicious Tomato Tart Recipe

First up – here’s what you need

Ingredients:

• one Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust
• one package of shredded mozzarella cheese
• six fresh basil leaves, chopped
• four medium size garden tomatoes
• two tablespoons Parmesan cheese
• two tablespoons mayonnaise

Step 1:

Bake 1 Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust for 5 minutes at 450 degrees.

Step 2:

Sprinkle parmesan and mozzarella cheese onto pie crust

Step 3:

Layer your fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes

Step 4:

Mix together the remaining mozzarella, chopped basil, and 2tbs mayo.

Step 5:

Spread mozzarella mixture over the tomato slices, spreading the mozzarella all the way out to the edge of the crust.

Step 6:

Bake tomato tart until cheese is browned and melted, 15 to 20 minutes.

Alternatives:

This tart is equally delicious if you add a layer of fresh baby spinach between the parmesan cheese and layer of tomatoes.

I like to use nayonnaise instead of mayonnaise.

This post brought to you by Whitney Farms. All opinions are 100% mine.

My parents have always had a garden.

Dad used to raise tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers. Mom would turn those cucumbers into the best pickles you’ve ever tasted. We counted down the days until the canned pickles were ready to eat. Her fried squash is still my favorite. There’s just something about homemade, still-cracklin’ fried squash. We usually ate it all before dinner was served.

I didn’t get my parents green thumb. In kindergarten, my cup of grass died. In fourth grade, my classroom project shriveled up while my classmates bloomed. After college, my roommate and I got windox boxes for our apartment, and she quickly took full responsibility so our plants would stay alive.

I won’t quit trying to grow vegetables and flowers. Last summer, my friend Megan gave me 8 small tomato plants her husband had sprouted from seeds. I dug small holes in the backyard and stuck them in. Surprisingly, they grew! Afterwards, when I was telling him that my plants were growing, he jokingly said “Some people think you can just plant them in the ground!” and I just nodded. That was exactly what I had done!  I had no idea what I was doing, I didn’t know anything about using organic soil or organic plant food. By the end of the Summer, I had lots of tomatoes – but I hesitated to feed them to my husband and daughter. I didn’t feel like they were safe to eat.

I’ll try to grow our own produce again when we get into our new home, using all-natural plant food from Whitney Farms®. This time around, I’ll be a little more prepared.

Until then, we’ll just steal Mom & Dad’s.

{P.S – Visit Whitney Farms® for a $3 coupon so you can try raising your own organic veggies!}

Today I am thankful for:

the ability to house-hunt! Finally!!!!

Hubs and I are about to go nuts from looking at houses online and in person. Even though it is fun and exciting to imagine our future in a new home, after a while they all start to blur together.

I snapped a picture of this backyard raised flower bed/ garden to show Hubs, right before the realtor got the call that the house had just been sold.

A few things on my shortlist:

• red or white painted brick
• one story
• finished basement
• deck/patio/outdoor space
• quiet street
• close to work
• near a great school

It should be interesting to see how our styles meld, since Hubs gravitates towards traditional, and I prefer modern furniture and graphic prints.