Tomato Zucchini Tart is hands-down the best tart! Made with cherry tomatoes, zucchini or squash and load sof cheese, it is a culinary heaven.
Bake a tart storm from the blog like strawberry tart, pasta tart, quiche.
Those who follow me, would know that I have not baked tarts/ quiche/ pies etc in a very long time. I made an attempt here and here, in the very beginning of my blog, but never after that.
The primary reason was that I didn’t find the crust as flaky as it should have been. So, I got stuck in belief that once I will get a pastry cutter, I will do well. And thankfully it wasn’t just a belief, rather the wait did turn out well.
V’s friend traveled to US and my list contained only one item – a OXO pastry cutter from Amazon. I kept convincing him how small a package it is and it wouldn’t increase his baggage limit. :D
I am really happy with the purchase and the pastry turned out perfect in all aspects.
The key to a good crust is minimal use of hands while bringing the dough together. So try using forks, knives, food processor or a potato masher to cut in butter and flour together.
You can blind bake and store tart crust for future use. You can even freeze pie dough if need be.
The options of filling in the tart/ pie base are endless. Feel free to substitute and bake up a storm.
The filling was throwing in together whatever I had. I made small pie cups for the kids in the muffin tray and they were a huge hit too.
Tomato Zucchini Tart
Ingredients
for the pate brisee dough
- 1¼ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup unsalted butter cold & cut into very small cubes
- ½ tsp salt
- 2-4 tbsp ice water
for the filling
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup packed basil leaves finely chopped
- ⅓ cup parmesan cheese grated
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 1 zucchini sliced
- 1 yellow squash sliced
- to taste salt & freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
to prepare the pate brisee dough
- In a large bowl, mix flour and salt together. Cube the butter into small pieces. Allow flour to chill for 10-15 minutes in freezer along with butter cubes. Remove from freezer and add butter to the flour bowl. Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour, until the butter is roughly the size of peas and distributed evenly throughout the flour mixture.
- Add iced water little by little to the dough, until the dough just starts coming together. Depending on moisture and humidity levels, the amount of water that you may need will change. Turn over the bowl onto a floured surface, Using the tips of your fingers, press the dough together. Cling wrap the dough and allow it to chill in fridge for 1-2 hours or even overnight.
- Pre-heat oven to 200 °C. Remove the dough from the fridge, lightly flour a work counter and rolling pin – and roll out evenly till it is roughly 12-13” diameter disc. Keep rotating the dough continuously to prevent sticking to the surface. Fold over the disc onto the rolling pin and gently transfer to a 9-inch tart pan (with removable bottom). Carefully press dough into sides and corners (without stretching) and roll the rolling pin over top to remove any excess dough. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to chill for another 15-20 minutes in the fridge.
to blind bake crust
- Remove and line tart dough with foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. I used kidney beans. Blind-bake for 20 minutes. Remove beans and foil and if bottom still does not look completely dry, bake for an addition 5-10 minutes, checking regularly. Remove and allow to cool on rack.
to prepare the filling
- In a separate bowl, add basil and olive oil. Add salt and pepper as per taste. Add zucchini, yellow squash and cherry tomatoes to it. Mix in cheese well coating uniformly. Brush the tart shell with olive oil. Spread the filling inside the shell evenly using a spatula or back of a spoon. Now pour the cream on top so that it’s uniformly distributed on the tart. Sprinkle some more salt and pepper.
- Pre-heat oven to 200 °C and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the tomatoes and zucchini are soft and lightly caramelized. Optional (but recommended): Place under the broil for 2-3 minutes to finish! Watch carefully during this step to avoid burning the crust. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- The key to a good crust is minimal use of hands while bringing the dough together. So try using forks, knives, food processor or a potato masher to cut in butter and flour together.
- You can blind bake and store tart crust for future use. You can even freeze pie dough if need be.
- The options of filling in the tart/ pie base are endless. Feel free to substitute and bake up a storm.
