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Fresco By Scotto

February 2nd, 2010

Family friends of ours, the Scottos, have a terrific restaurant in New York called Fresco By Scotto. They are regular guests on The Today Show and a recent segment reminded me how much I love their first cookbook, Fresco. If you are in NYC make Fresco a destination. Marion is an amazing, gracious host and the food is wonderful  too.

Hands down, this is my favorite recipe from the Fresco cookbook. With a cup a soup and a salad it makes a perfect winter meal.  I have offered a vegetarian option at the end of the original recipe.

Sausage and Leek Tart with a Fennel Crust
Makes one 10 to 11-inch tart

Fennel Tart Dough
2 1/4 cups flour
1 cup of butter, cut into cubes and chilled
1 Tbsp. fennel seeds, crushed in a mortar and pestle
1 tsp kosher salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Place the flour, butter, fennel seeds and salt in the work bowl of a food processor. Pulse 10 times or until the mixture resembles crumbs. In a smaller bowl, whisk together 2 Tbsp. of water with the eggs.

With the food processor running, add the egg mixture through the feeding tube. Pulse 8 tie or just until the dough comes together. Remove from the bowl, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for about one hour. Let the dough stand at room temperature for about 20 minutes before rolling it out and fitting it into your favorite tart pan.

Time Saver:  If you find that you like this crust, double the recipe and freeze one ball of dough for future use.

Filling:                                                          
2 large onions or 2 lbs. leeks, sliced thinly
1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 lb mild Italian sausage, casings removed and crumbled
1 tsp. chopped garlic
1 tsp. salt
3 large eggs
1 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1/2 lb. shredded Fontina cheese (or Gruyere)
12 plum tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick and drained on paper towels
(I used large cherry tomatoes as  could not find any good plum tomatoes. I used 1 pint but 2 would have been better.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Heat 2 Tbsp. of olive oil in a large skillet and cook sausage for 7 minutes. Break up the meat while it cooks. Drain and set aside. Discard the fat.  Heat remaining oil and saute the onions until they get nice and soft. Add the garlic and cook for about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside and allow to cool

Combine the eggs and cream and mix well. Add the parsley.  Set aside.

Spread the onions or leeks over the tart shell bottom. Spread the sausage meat on top. Cover the meat with the cheese. Now place the tomatoes on top in a nice pattern, layering them just so they overlap slightly. Carefully pour the egg mixtue over. Place tart pan onto a cookie sheet and bake for 50 minutes. Let the tart cool slightly before you cut it to serve.

Go Veg!

I decided to make this tart vegetarian as we are trying to cut back on our meat consumption 3 to 4 nights a week. So instead of the sausages and heavy cream, I used 1 cup ricotta cheese with about 1/4 cup freshly chopped basil.  It worked great, but I confess to preferring the one with sausage better!

Entry Filed under: Cookbooks, Restaurants, Savory Recipes, Vegetarian, Websites/Blogosphere