Zucchini and ricotta pesto tart

Store-bought pie crust: Discuss.

That’s usually enough to set people off on both sides of a divide nearly as deep as the current political climate. I’m not as hard-core. I’m certainly a believer in the superiority of a home-made crust, providing you can make a passable one. And I’m prepared to enter into the discussion of the merits of lard vs. shortening vs. butter or some combination thereof. (My answer: Yes, and it depends. I use Mother’s recipe (lard) for some pie crusts, Mary A.’s (shortening) for others, Julia Child’s (butter and shortening) for quiches, and so on.)

There's the possibly apocryphal story about the time when the minister got fed up with people talking loudly in the pews before the service started, and instructed the organist to abruptly stop playing mid-hymn to make a point. Into the sudden quiet came this emphatic phrase uttered in the penetrating voice of the hearing-impaired: “I make mine with lard!” Amen, sister.

But I’m not a purist. I think it would be awesome if I was one of those people who always had home-made pie crust rounds in their freezer, but I’m not there yet. So I’m willing to look at a recipe that calls for a purchased crust without blinking if it means a quick weekend lunch in a lot less time.

Now mind you, this recipe also calls for purchased pesto, but with vats of the stuff I put up last fall in the freezer, I draw the line there. I used a pesto I made with pineapple sage, walnuts and walnut oil in this one. And yes, that’s like cheating too.

 

Zucchini and ricotta tart

Adapted from Rachael Ray Every Day, April 2017

Ingredients

1 unbaked pie crust

4 ounces ricotta or Quark

2 to 3 tablespoons pesto

½ a zucchini, thinly sliced

3 tablespoons sliced oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes

2 tablespoons pine nuts

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out pie crust into a large circle. Place on parchment paper on a large baking sheet.

Combine ricotta with pesto to reach desired spreadable consistency. Spread over pie crust, leaving a 1-inch border around the edge. Arrange zucchini slices over the top. Top with sun-dried tomatoes and sprinkle with pine nuts. Fold in border over the tart, crimping edges as you go.

Bake for 30 minutes until deep golden. Don’t be tempted to take it out too early or you may find your bottom crust is soggy. Serves 4 for lunch with a nice soup to go with it.

Rating: This made a fine fast lunch that’s not too heavy. I don’t know that it rises to the level of company food unless you upgrade the crust, but the combination of the nice pesto, Quark and sun-dried tomatoes worked fine. It’s worth repeating some time with a decent crust to see what difference that makes, but then it’s a lot less like fast food. Well, until I evolve to be the person who always has pie crust tucked away.