Comte tart

I still remember my first-ever bite of French Comte cheese. It was buttery and nutty, melting in my mouth, cut fresh off half a wheel measuring about 3 feet. The cheese came from Salone del Gusto in Torino, Italy, an international food fair organized by Slow Food every two years. A colleague who was running the taste workshops had brought home the wheel of Comte, made by a small artisan producer, and invited several of us over for cheese and wine. I’ve been looking for the same experience ever since we moved to France, but none of the supermarket bought cheeses, although still good, came close. 

Comte is made from raw cow’s milk and aged from 4 months to 24, 30 months or even more in a cellar. It is made in huge wheels weighing 80 pounds each. There is much more about the cheese on this specially dedicated website.

We live a couple hours’ drive away from the Comte production area in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, so we took a weekend with kids to explore and go eat as much as we could of it. The area of production lies in the Jura mountains, the mountains being so old that they gave the name to the Jurassic period. The cheese is also very old. Produced at least for 1000 years, since Medieval times. 

The owners of the house we booked in the village of Arbois had a surprise two-pound slice waiting for us in the fridge. Delicious! Comte tartlettes, or small tarts, were everywhere. Once we got home, we made a big tart with cheese we brought back with us.

The classic version of the tart requires making a béchamel with a glass of milk and some flour but those tarts taste too light and thin to me. I prefer a thicker consistency so I substituted béchamel with ricotta cheese. Cream cheese would work well too, or a combination of both. You can also substitute the Comte cheese in the recipe with Gruyere, Fontina or a mild Cheddar cheese. 

For the tart crust

1 and 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, divided

2.5 ounces unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup water (maybe less), ice cold   

For the tart filling

2 eggs

2 tablespoons sour cream

8 ounces ricotta cheese (or substitute with 4 ounces cream cheese and 4 ounces Greek yogurt)

6 ounces Comte cheese, finely grated

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

In a food processor combine 1 and 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour with cold butter cut into pieces, pulse several times to mix but don’t overmix. Alternatively, you can combine flour and butter using two knives and cut the butter into the flour until you have only tiny pieces of butter.

Add salt and ice cold water, one tablespoon at a time, and pulse several more times to form a ball that holds together. Don’t worry if the dough remains a little sticky, it will pick some flour later.

Flour the tabletop with 1/4 cup of flour. Roll out the dough into a circle about 10 inches in diameter (to fit a 9 inch springform pan), line the pan with parchment paper, transfer the dough with the help of the rolling pin. Prick the dough with a fork, and leave it to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In the meantime, combine eggs, sour cream, ricotta cheese (or cream cheese and Greek yogurt), Comte cheese, salt and nutmeg. Transfer the filling into the pie crust and then spread it gently to evenly fill the crust. Fold the excess dough over and crimp the edges.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until the filling is golden in color. Serve with a side salad.

Serves 6.