For more pastry and fresh, seasonal vegetables, try these Pesto, Caramelized Onion and Boursin Tarts! Summer for me is the time to make the most out of incredibly ripe and fresh fruit and vegetables. I love finding and creating recipes that don’t hide fresh vegetables and fruit behind other flavours and ingredients. Time to let them shine! The vegetable I get most excited for is tomatoes. It’s easy to find plump red tomatoes all year round, but the summer is when we get to see real diversity. We get tomatoes in a range of colours, and perfectly fresh and juicy.
Puff Pastry Tart with Heirloom Tomatoes
I wanted to create a recipe that would lean on the fresh taste of seasonal heirloom tomatoes, which is why I came up with this Puff Pastry Tomato Tart! This recipe works so well because the tomatoes really pop, letting their sweet, tangy flavour shine. The basil pieces add to the freshness of this dish, balanced out perfectly by creamy goat’s cheese. It’s all held together by a flaky puff pastry base. Add it all together and you not only have a ridiculous amount of fresh flavour, you also have a visually stunning tart. Just look at these photos!
Making this tart
The last thing we want to do on a hot, sunny summer day is spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I’m a firm believer that a perfect summer recipe is quick and simple, with as little time around an oven as possible! Fortunately, most of the time making this tomato tart is with the pastry in the oven, meaning you don’t have to do a whole lot. And once the tart shell is in the oven you can finish off the prep work so things are ready for final assembly right away. Roll our the pastry till it is ¼ inch thick and in the shape of a rectangle. To make it even easier, I used a pre-rolled pastry sheet which saves a lot of effort. Mark a border one inch wide wit a sharp knife, but be careful not to cut all the way through. Give it a few pricks with a fork and spread the pesto evenly within the border you just cut. Add slices of goat’s cheese put it in the preheated oven to bake. While the pastry is happily puffing up in the oven, it’s time to make the lovely, fresh sauce that adds so much to this tart. Do this by combining sliced basil leaves, grated garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and a pinch of salt in a small bowl. When the tart is ready, take it from the oven and cover with the sliced tomatoes. Give it a good drizzle with the garlic basil sauce and enjoy as a light, flavourful lunch!
Serving suggestions
A puff pastry tart with sweet tomatoes is exactly the sort of meal I start craving right about lunch time. It’s visually stunning, and can be a truly incredible starter for a barbecue or any other summer meal. It’s also especially good when paired with the perfect soup or salad. Which would I choose? Well, it has to be seasonal, just like the tomatoes in this tart. Which makes my Summer Sorrel Soup, otherwise known as Green Borscht, a great choice. And because the tomato tart has so much flavour, even a simple soup will match amazingly well to create a complete lunch. Cream of Broccoli or Mushroom, perhaps? If a salad is more your speed, you might as well keep things spectacular with a lovely Salad Nicoise or Salmon Cobb Salad. Salad will be beautiful next to this tomato tart, don’t you think?
Storage and leftovers
This tart is one to eat fresh, so best not to try to keep any for future meals. The puff pastry will go soggy if kept too long, especially with all of those beautiful, fresh tomatoes covering it!
More lunch recipes
Focaccia Sandwich Bacon, Stilton and Caramelised Onion Quiche 15 Minute French Dip Sandwich Hot Cheesy Salmon Sandwich
