Caprese Puff Pastry Torte Love

How could one not go gaga over the simple purity of Caprese Salad ingredients at the peak of in-season goodness...all wrapped up in puff pastry??? Then again, I like pretty much anything wrapped in puff pastry.
After seeing a similar idea my darlin' niece made & posted on Facebook,
I sent my husband out to get some tomatoes from our local farm stand & then over to my sister's to raid her herb garden.
I defrosted a sheet of frozen puff pastry dough (Pepperidge Farm) & spread it with a mixture I concocted with a few tablespoons of mayonnaise (I only use regular Hellmans), mixed with some grated Asiago cheese, a little garlic powder & a few dashes of dried thyme, kosher salt & pepper. I put a very thin layer of this on the center of the dough, leaving an unadorned border roughly 3" wide. After slicing the tomatoes for the torte, I pushed out all the seeds & juicy center parts & blot them with paper towels to keep the tart from being too watery. I then layered in the sliced tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil over the mayo mixture. Pull the plain edges of dough up over the filling & pinch slightly together to form a nice free-form tart.
Bake it at 400 degrees until the tart is golden..somewhere around 20 minutes, but watch carefully near the end so as not to over-brown it.
Allow it to cool slightly before digging in or it'll run all over the place.
Drizzle with some of your favorite Extra Virgin Olive Oil & sprinkle with a little more crunchy kosher salt to serve...and prepare to go gagaaaa.

I must add that I'd like you to take note of the very lovely serving utensil used here. It's one that my husband Phil upcycled using a piece of fallen branch from our yard...to replace a drab & ordinary handle. We sell similar items in our new Etsy shop. Check it out at OhMyGoodNest.etsy.com!

We're listening to Sonya Kitchell today. Do ya know her? This 21 year old singer-songwriter from Northampton, Mass. is a favorite of mine. Her gutsy breathy soulful vocals sound like someone much older than her years. She's hard to pin down to one specific genre ~ Blues, Rock, Folk, Jazz, Soul...she runs the gamut. Check out her album "This Storm". I'm lovin' the track "Who Knows After All".