Italian Tomato Tart

This recipe is divine. I just got done eating a piece of this for dinner, and it was so mouth-watering to me that I had to start writing this post just to keep myself from going back for seconds... or thirds.... Clearly I'm excited about this, and if you love quiche or a good Tortilla Española, you'll love this Italian Tomato Tart from the April 2009 issue of Cooking Light

What makes this recipe both incredibly healthy - and tasty - is the crust. Unlike a normal buttery crust in a traditional quiche, the brilliant folks at Cooking Light suggest a crust using a mixture of brown rice (that's right), pesto, parmesan, and egg. The pesto in the crust adds an incredible amount of f lavor, too.

What I appreciate the most about this recipe is that a serving is ONE FOURTH of the pie plate. That is so refreshing... Afterall, if it's going to be my dinner, I'd like more than 3 bites, right? And this generous portion is 6 Weight Watchers points (279 calories / 13.9 g. fat / 1.8 g. fiber).

The issue of Cooking Light that I got this from had a lot of great quiche-like recipes, including a potato and greens torta that I'll be posting about soon. It was another favorite that I would recommend to anyone!

Italian Tomato Tart from Cooking Light

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen long-grain brown rice (such as Birds Eye Steamfresh - I actually couldn't find frozen broaw rice that day, and just roughly measured out 10 oz. of minute rice and prepared it according to the box.)
• 2 tablespoons commercial pesto
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 1 large egg
• Cooking spray

Filling:

• 1/2 cup fat-free milk
• 1/2 cup egg substitute
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Dash of ground red pepper
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1 ounce prosciutto, cut into thin strips (about 1/4 cup - you can get it siced and pre-packaged at Trader Joe's, or really any grocery store. I found it at Harris Teater by the deli counter)
• 3 small plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. To prepare crust, cook the brown rice according to package directions. Combine cooked rice, pesto, Parmesan cheese, and 1 egg; firmly press mixture into the bottom and up sides of a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes. Remove dish from oven.
3. Increase oven temperature to 400°.
4. To prepare filling, combine milk and next 5 ingredients (through 1 egg) in a bowl; stir with a whisk.
5. Sprinkle half of mozzarella and half of prosciutto into bottom of prepared crust. Top with half of tomato slices. Repeat procedure with remaining mozzarella, prosciutto, and tomatoes. Pour milk mixture over tomatoes; bake at 400° for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325° (do not remove tart from oven); bake an additional 35 minutes or until set. Cool 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with basil. Cut into wedges.

The finished product...