Honey-Pecan Tomato Tarts with Blue Cheese Recipe

The tomatoes are finally on in the garden! We’ve had a few setbacks with sun scorching in the extreme heat, but there has been a steady stream on the kitchen counter for about a week now.

The SunSugar cherry tomato plant is doing well this year. As much as I love these little orange gems, I’ve hit my limit for eating them fresh (at least for a couple days). We needed a little variety.

Over the 4th of July, my aunt sent some Georgia pecans home with us. After my husband got them all cracked open, I had 3 cups of fresh pecans that were screaming to be used.

I love the combination of blue cheese, nuts and honey so that inspired mini-tarts using the cherry tomatoes.

The blue cheese was the perfect topper to balance out the sweetness from the nuts, tomatoes and honey. If you don’t like blue cheese, feta, or even parmesan, would work well, too.

Honey-Pecan Tomato Tarts with Blue Cheese

Makes:  6 tarts

What you’ll need:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1/3 cup pecans, chopped
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1  9-inch pie crust
3 – 4 oz. blue cheese, crumbled

How to make it:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the cherry tomatoes. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring often, about 7 minutes. The tomatoes will begin to burst and the onions will caramelize. Gently smash the tomatoes as they begin to burst.

Stir in the pecans and cook about 1 more minute. Stir in the honey, and the salt. Allow to cool while you prepare the crust.

Roll the pie crust to about 9 inches, and cut into 6 – 3 1/2 to 4 inch circles. I used an x-large muffin pan for the tarts. Place each circle of dough into the muffin tin. Press gently to fill the bottom and to come up about 1 inch on the side. Prick the dough with a fork. (You will likely have a little dough left over.)

Spoon the tomato mixture into each of the muffin tins, filling the crust. Next, divide the blue cheese and sprinkle each tart with an equal amount.

Bake for 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and begins to bubble, and the edges are browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes before removing from the pan.