Yesterday as I was trying to make room in the freezer I came across a box of puff pastry sheets I had bought last winter and forgot to use. And well, since we have an abundance of zucchini from the garden right now, I decided to make a zucchini pesto puff pastry tart for dinner last night.
And I’m so glad I did because holy canoies people, it was so good, I think I’m going to make another one for dinner tonight.
The recipe is pretty straightforward but I took a bunch of pictures in case you’ve never made one of these savory tarts before. I used pre-made pesto from Costco in my tart, but homemade pesto will of course work well too {and it freezes well so be sure and make an extra batch!}.
I hope you like this recipe as much as we do. 🙂
Have a wonderful day,
~Mavis
Easy Zucchini Pesto Puff Pastry Tart
Ingredients
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
2 medium zucchini, sliced thin into rounds
1/4 cup pesto
3 eggs
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
3 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
3 tablespoons grated parmesan
3 basil leaves, chopped for a garnish
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Carefully unfold the puff pastry sheet and gently roll it out on a lightly floured surface to the size of your tart pan {I used a 14.5″ x 4.5″ fluted pan}.
Press the puff pastry into your tart pan and score the pastry about ¼ inch from the edges to create a border.
Poke the bottom of the pastry a few times with the tines of a fork to prevent the bottom from bubbling up.
Place a piece of parchment paper so that it extends over the edges of the puff pastry and fill the tart two-thirds of the way with pie weights or dry beans.
Blind bake for 12 minutes. Remove the parchment paper and pie weights and bake an additional 5 minutes. {This will prevent a soggy bottom.}
Spread the pesto evenly on the inside of the puff pastry.
Arrange zucchini slices on top of the pesto, overlapping a bit.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, milk and cracked pepper together. Slowly pour over the sliced zucchini.
Using a pastry brush, gently brush the sides of the puffy pastry and the tops of the zucchini slices with the egg mixture.
Top with halved cherry tomatoes down the center and sprinkled with parmesan.
Place the tart pan on a lined baking sheet and bake for 28- 30 minutes or until the crust is puffed up and golden brown.
Garnish with fresh basil.
Cool for 5 minutes before slicing.
Joyce says
Wow that looks sooooooo good! But I don’t have a pan like that, I suppose I could use a different kind of pan.
Mona says
I’m going to give it a try using a quiche pan.
Linda Practical Parsimony says
Did you use squash, too, or is that yellow zucchini?
Mavis Butterfield says
Green and yellow zucchini. 🙂
Ashley Bananas says
It seems like you’re prepping for fall with this and the cheese biscuits last week. lol I woke up in Florida and it was 84 degrees out.
Rebecca in MD says
What a beautiful recipe. This would make a great appetizer for a party, or an interesting side dish. Regarding preventing the crust from getting soggy, You can brush the blind-baked crust with egg white before filling for extra insurance.
Tracey says
Oooo… this looks yummy! I have some zucchini in the fridge and pesto in the freezer! Thanks for this yummy recipe!
Linda Sand says
This looks so good it almost makes me wish I still cooked. 🙂
Wendy Steele says
HA!!! Same!!!! Lolol
Nancy D says
You’re a food artist! Beautiful! I can’t imagine what that would cost in a fancy restaurant !
SC says
That looks really good, we have the basil and zucchini. Went to the local store and they were out of puff pastry. Outrageous! Maybe tomorrow.
Mavis Butterfield says
Outrageous is right! 🙂
Linda says
Yummy! I was going to make a tomato pie but maybe I’ll have to do a tart!
akrubygal says
Yum! Do you only brush the pastry and tops of zucchini with the eggs….or do you also add the egg mixture?
This is a definite try-me recipe!!
akrubygal says
duh! I see it….after re-reading 4 times! 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!
Mrs. M. says
Looks delicious… and since we had covid last year, my husband now eats zucchini and squash so I’ll give it a try! Do you think yellow squash would work in place of zucchini?
Thanks, Mavis, for sharing your inspirational foods (and life)! Blessings!
Mavis Butterfield says
Yes, I don’t see why it wouldn’t.