This tart was beautiful, tasty, but unfortunately impossible to serve. The tart crust is too crumbly to cut into slices, so when we tried to cut it for serving, it crumbled into pieces. I think it might work better if you rolled out the dough and cut it into individual rounds (parmesan pastry cookies?) and topped each with a slice of tomato, slice of cheese, and drizzle of pesto to make individual tartlets.
For pepper parmesan pastry
1 1/4 cups flour
6 Tbs cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 Tbs cold shortening
2 Tbs freshly grated parmesan
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
2 to 4 Tbs ice water
For filling
3/4 ln fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
1/2 cup pesto
2 lb tomatoes
Blend together flour, butter, shortening, parmesan, pepper, and salt in a bowl with a pastry blender until it resembles coarse meal. Drizzle 2 Tbs water and stir until incorporated. If a small handful won’t hold together without crumbling, add more water, 1 Tbs ata atime until it will hold together.
Turn dough onto work surface and divide into two portions, and knead once to distribute fat. Gather back into one ball and pat into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for an hour until firm.
Preheat oven to 375F.
Roll out dough into a 12-inch round. Wrap it around the rolling pin to lift onto a 9-inch tart pan and trim edges to fit. Lightly prick it all over with a fork.
Line shell with foil and fill with rice. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove foil and rice and bake 15 minutes more, until golden. Cool in pan on a rack.
Arrange half the tomato slices in the shell, then half the cheese, and drizzle with half the pesto. Repeat with the remaining tomatoes, cheese, and pesto.
