Tomato tart with puff pastry – the ultimate umami feast

Last Updated on October 31, 2024

Stunningly simple tomato tart recipe using ready-rolled puff pastry

Do you find that supermarket tomatoes can be a bit bland?  For something like this simple tomato tart with puff pastry, you really need good quality tomatoes – the sort that are packed with flavour.  Ideally, they’ll be freshly picked from the garden, but at this time of year, that’s just not possible!  I’ve been walking around London a great deal this year. Let’s face it, there’s been little else to do for large swathes of time. On the positive side, this has meant that I discovered a beautiful Farmers’ Market only half an hour’s walk from home. On my first visit back in December, I enquired of one of the stalls how long they had been there and it turned out to be six years! Six years and I hadn’t even been aware of its existence. A real treasure that has become a regular destination for me on Saturdays.

Even better, there’s a fabulous tomato stall with tomatoes of myriad colours and sizes, all grown on the Isle of Wight. I love tomatoes (in any form) and these are tomatoes to dream of. The cherries burst with flavour and juice in your mouth and are almost like a refreshing little drink. And they are incredible to cook with. Never has a pizza tasted so fresh. So they inspired me to make this delightful, tomato tart with puff pastry. It’s ideal for a light lunch for four or cut into bite-sized pieces as a snack or canapes with drinks.

I used ready-rolled puff pastry as it makes it even easier but of course, you could make your own. All topped with a mix of yellow plum and red cherry tomatoes which makes for a beautifully vibrant and tasty tart. And I found some beautiful Greek basil in the shops which I couldn’t resist.

Unroll the puff pastry and trim the edges if it needs tidying up. Score a line through the pastry around the edge, about 1cm inside the rectangle. Make sure not to cut all the way through. Score around the edge in a criss-cross pattern and brush with the beaten egg.

Spread the inside of the rectangle with your onion mix. I used caramelised onion chutney today which brought an extra sweetness to my tart. It works just as well if you caramelise the onions yourself, frying them in a little oil and water until they are soft, sweet and browned.

Cut your tomatoes in half and spread them out on top of the onion, alternating between red and yellow.

Place the tart in the oven at 180C for about 25 minutes until the pastry has risen and is golden and the tomatoes have softened. Top generously with individual leaves of fresh Greek basil before serving.

Cut into four for a light lunch for two. You could serve it with a rocket salad tossed with olive oil and lemon juice.

Or into bite-size portions as a treat with drinks or for a picnic.

If you want to vary this recipe you can add all sorts of things to the basic tomato tart. Olives and/or anchovies add depth of flavour. You could crumble a little feta over the tart before baking for extra protein. Or you could pimp up the recipe with shredded ham, cubes of chorizo or even bacon. It’s a very easy dish to make your own.

Here’s a printable version of my delicious tomato tart recipe for you. Enjoy!

Did you know that tomatoes are a relatively new ingredient in the UK?  It’s a fruit (not a vegetable!) that is native to South and Central America and it was only discovered in 1519.  The seeds were brought back to Europe and planted as ornamental curiosities.  Tomatoes didn’t become widely eaten until the 18th century – partly because they look a bit like other poisonous plants and partly because the high acidity meant that when tomatoes were cut and served on the pewter plates of the 16th and 17th centuries, they caused lead to leech out into the food, resulting in lead poisoning and death!

But, you can be sure that this tomato tart with puff pastry won’t poison you!  You can make it in advance, then store it in the fridge or a cool larder for a couple of days.  It isn’t the best thing to freeze, though if you let it defrost and then pop it back in the oven to warm through it will make an easy meal.  That said, tomato tart is really quick to make, particularly if you use shop-bought puff pastry.  So why not make it fresh and enjoy it at its best?

Do you love tomatoes as much as I do? Why not try this recipe using fresh hake fillets and cherry tomatoes?