This appetizer looks and tastes like a gourmet delicacy. Surprisingly, whipping this up is quite quick and easy. With just a fresh bunch of tomatoes, mozzarella and some pastries on hand, then you are good to go. Other than that, these mozzarella cheese tarts are healthy to the body.

Trivia: The Lycopene that we get from the tomatoes have antioxidant properties. These  prevent us from cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, and even male infertility. (Wikipedia)

 

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 1/2  pkg frozen puff pastry sheets — thawed
• 8 ozs mozzarella cheese — grated
• 1 1/2 lbs plum tomatoes
• 1/2 c Parmesan cheese freshly grated
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp chopped thyme or 1 t. dried — crumbled

 

Steps:

• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375 degrees. Brush 9×13 baking sheet lightly with olive oil. Roll out pastry sheet on lightly floured surface to 16×12″ rectangle.

• Transfer pastry to prepared pan and gently press into place. Trim edges of pastry, leaving 1/2″ overhang. Crimp edges. Pierce crust all over with fork.

• Bake until golden brown, piercing with fork every 5 min to deflate if necessary, about 15 min. Sprinkle crust with mozzarella and set aside.  (Can be prepared 4 hours ahead.  Let stand at room temperature.) Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees.

• Blanch tomatoes in large pot of boiling water 20 seconds. Drain and cool slightly.  Peel and core tomatoes. Cut into thin rounds. Place rounds on double thickness of paper towels; pat dry.

• Arrange tomatoes on crust in slightly overlapping rows, covering completely. Season generously with salt and pepper. Sprinkle Parmesan, 1 T olive oil and thyme over.

• Bake tart until tomatoes are heated through and cheeses melt, about 9 min. Cut tart into large squares.