Roma Tomato Tart

This tart is simple to make,
but allow enough time to roast
the tomatoes slowly until they
are meltingly soft and tender.

Ingredients:
9 Ripe Roma tomatoes
5 chard leaves
1 oz of blanched almonds
1/2 cup of plumped golden raisins
40 large basil leaves
1 pasty crust, store bought is fine

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.
Wash 9 standard size Roma tomatoes.
With the point of a sharp knife,
carve out the stem end.
Then cut each tomato in half.
With a knife or spoon gently remove
the seeds on either side of the core,
leaving the core in place.
There is no need to remove all the seeds.
Place the tomato halves (cut side up)
on a baking sheet that has been covered
with parchment paper and sprinkle
1/2 cup white sugar over them.
Bake in the oven for about 2 hours until
the tomatoes begin to look translucent.
Remove from the oven and let the
tomatoes cool on the baking sheet.
While the tomatoes are baking,
prepare the garnish and pastry dough.
Tomato Garnish:
Blanch only the green part of 5 chard leaves
in boiling water for about 2 minutes.
(Reserve the white ribs for another use.)
Process about 1 oz of
blanched almonds into medium powder.
Chop about 1/2 cup of plumped golden raisins.
Blanch about 40 large basil leaves
in hot water for about 30 seconds.
Then chop the leaves.
Mix all of these ingredients
together and set aside.

Assembly:
Arrange the cooked tomatoes
(skin side down) in one layer
in a 9-inch cake pan lightly
coated with olive oil.
(The pan should be about 2 inches deep.)
The 18 halves will fit if
you carefully wedge them in.
Do not overlap them.
After fitting in the tomatoes,
lightly press them down with the
back of a spoon or the palm of your hand
to flatten them against the bottom of the pan.
Sprinkle the basil-chard garnish oven the tomatoes.
Roll out your pastry dough and cut it into a round,
just a bit bigger than the size as your cake pan.
Place the dough over the tomatoes and gently
tuck the edges down the side of the pan.
Bake according to the temperature
of the pastry dough recipe you have chosen.
Tomatoes don't need to cook further,
so you're only baking the pastry dough at this point.
Remove from the oven and let the tart cool
in the baking pan for about 30 minutes.
Then invert on a serving dish.
Can be served warm or at room temperature.
Cut into 6 - 8 wedges for serving.