Indulge in this tasty tomato puff pastry tart that's perfect for a speedy lunch, dinner, or appetizer. The base of store-bought puff pastry is topped with cheese, tomatoes, and a hint of onion.
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If you love cheese and tomato toasties, toasted sandwiches, toasted sarmies, whatever you call them...then you will love this tart. This tart is full of that delicious fresh tomato flavor, paired with cheddar and parmesan, and finished off with red onion. Truly delicious and delightful.
This tart will make a great appetizer, or even a full lunch or dinner when served with a salad of your choice. Because this is such a quick and easy tart, it's great for a midweek dinner or a quick romantic dinner by candlelight. Add this recipe to your Valentine's ideas!
If you love tomatoes as much as I do...check out the tomato and ricotta tarts, tomato galette, and tomato soup!
Why You Will Love This Tomato Puff Pastry Tart
- This super easy tomato tart is made using store-bought pastry - which means you don't need to make the pastry ahead of time!
- This tart is really quick to make, and only requires a few ingredients!
- This tart combines the classic flavors of cheese and tomato. Think of your classic cheese and tomato toasted sandwich but on a delicious bed of puff pastry.
Ingredients
Here are some notes on the ingredients used in this recipe. Please see the recipe card for quantities.
Store-bought puff pastry - I used 350 grams (12 oz) of prerolled puff pastry. This recipe is made to use up the entire roll of puff pastry. Use your favorite puff pastry. For a vegan alternative, use a plant-based pastry. Keep in mind that a plant-based or vegan pastry may bake up a bit differently from a regular pastry.
If using the Edmonds sheets of rolled puff pastry, an equivalent would be two sheets of pastry.
Tomatoes - ripe tomatoes of any variety. Depending on the size between 3 and 6 tomatoes. I recommend using Roma tomatoes or beefsteak tomatoes. If using a fairly watery tomato, use a couple of sheets of paper towels to remove the excess water.
Red onion - I like the flavor of thinly sized red onions on this tart, however, a brown or yellow onion would work just as well. Choose your favorite onion variety for this recipe. That being said, should you not be a fan of onion, simply leave it off.
Tasty cheddar cheese - I like the flavor of cheddar on this tart. Tasty cheddar here in New Zealand is an aged or mature cheddar. Other cheeses that would work well - Gouda, Cheddar, Edam, Colby, or even a low-moisture mozzarella.
Parmesan - optional extra, I like 25 - 50 grams of parmesan on this tart.
For a vegan option - choose a low-moisture vegan cheese.
Egg and water for the pastry egg wash. The egg wash can be replaced with a milk or cream wash instead. A milk or cream wash requires about 2 tablespoons of milk or cream, undiluted.
Salt and pepper to taste.
How to Make the Tomato Puff Pastry Tart
Step 1 - Place the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 200°C/390°F.
Step 2 - Line a large baking tray or two with baking paper. A half sheet (40cm x 28cm or 16"x11") is the perfect size for a roll of pastry. If using a quarter sheet, the pastry will need to be divided in half for each baking tray.
Step 3 - Crack open an egg, add in a tablespoon of water, and beat until the egg is well mixed. Set aside.
Step 4 - To make the pastry border, slice off strips of pastry about an inch or 2.5cm wide. Set aside.
NOTE: The width of my pastry roll was the perfect size for the short length of my pan, but the roll was way too long. So I cut the pastry long enough to fit on my sheet. Then I used the leftover pastry and cut 1-inch strips. The photo beneath step 6 shows that my strips for the long sides were too short, so I just butted two strips against each other and trimmed them for the long edges.
Step 5 - Place the large piece of pastry onto the baking tray. Dock the pastry by poking it every inch to 3cm with a fork. Brush the pastry generously with the beaten egg.
Step 6 - Place the border strips on the edges of the docked pastry. Gently press down. Brush the tops of the border with the beaten egg.
Step 7 - Bake the pastry for 15 minutes, turn the baking sheet if needed halfway through baking.
Step 8 - While the pastry is baking, grate the cheese(s) and thinly slice the red onion.
Step 9 - Slice the tomatoes about 3-5mm thick. Place the sliced tomatoes on a piece of paper towel, and then press an additional paper towel on top of the tomatoes to remove some of the moisture from the tomatoes.
Step 10 - When the pastry has baked for 15 minutes, remove it from the oven. If the middle has puffed up, simply press it down using a fork or spoon.
Step 11 - Sprinkle the cheese over the center of the pastry, then lay the tomatoes on top of the cheese, and then a few slices of red onion. Top with salt and pepper.
Step 12 - Bake the tart for a further 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven. Serve the tart warm or at room temperature. Serve with a green salad to make lunch or dinner.
Pro Tips for this Recipe
Ovens & Air Fryers
The temperatures stated are for conventional ovens. For convection, fan-forced, fan-assisted, or air-fryers, the temperature must be reduced by 20°C/25°F, or the gas mark by 1.
For baking, a general rule is to have the oven rack in the middle of the oven.
For best baking results invest in an oven thermometer, as the temperature dials on the oven may not be accurate. Place the thermometer in the middle of the center rack for the most accurate results. I hang my oven thermometer off the center of my oven rack.
Keep in mind that all ovens work slightly differently and bake times may need to be adjusted slightly for your specific oven.
Bakeware
Metal bakeware (if you can, choose light-colored bakeware for an even better bake) is superior when it comes to baking biscuits, cookies, brownies, muffins and quick bread, scones, cakes. These heat up and cool down faster than glassware. Glassware is heavier, heats up and cools down slower than metal, and is more suited for bread puddings, pies, crisps, crumbles, and cobblers.
How to prevent the puff pastry from cracking when rolling it open
Allow the puff pastry to completely defrost before attempting to roll it open. If the pastry is frozen at all then it will crack when unrolling it.
Preventing a soggy bottom
For this particular recipe, the puff pastry is par-baked which allows the pastry to be baked halfway without the addition of toppings which prevents a soggy bottom.
The tomatoes for this recipe are also patted down with paper towels to remove as much moisture as possible. This prevents the moisture from the tomatoes from seeping down into the puff pastry.
Thirdly, the cheeses used do not have much moisture in them. Another step is to have a nice puff pastry bottom.
A preheated oven is also key. The hot temperature not only allows the puff pastry to puff up but allows for a nice bake of the pastry.
Storage and Freezing
This pastry is best served fairly fresh but will keep in an airtight container for 2 to 4 days in the fridge. To reheat cold pastry, preheat an oven to 180°C/355°F, cover the pastry with foil, and heat for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Tomato Puff Pastry Tarts FAQ
I used a 16"x11" (40cm x 28cm) baking tray or a half-sheet baking tray. When I use my quarter sheet tray (13" x9" or 33cm x 23cm), then I need to divide the pastry into two to fit.
This tart is best served warm or at room temperature, so I would personally not make this ahead of time.
Yes - this tart can be made by using half of a roll of puff pastry. Simply click on the 0.5 buttons above the ingredients. And follow the instructions as per the regular recipe.
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📖 Recipe
Tomato Puff Pastry Tart
Ingredients
- 350 grams puff pastry
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water
- 90-120 grams grated cheddar
- 25-50 grams grated parmesan
- ¼ onion
- 3-5 tomatoes (depending on size of tomatoes)
Instructions
- Place the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 200°C/390°F. If rolling out the pastry from a block, roll out until 3 to 5mm thick.
- Line a large baking tray or two with baking paper. A half sheet (40cm x 28cm or 16"x11") is the perfect size for a roll of pastry. If using a quarter sheet, the pastry will need to be divided in half for each baking tray.
- Crack open an egg, add in a tablespoon of water, and beat until the egg is well mixed. Set aside.1 egg,1 tablespoon water
- Cut the pastry to fit your baking tray(s). To make the pastry border, slice off strips of pastry about an inch or 2.5cm wide. Set aside.350 grams puff pastry
- Place the large piece of pastry onto the baking tray. Dock the pastry by poking it every inch to 3cm with a fork. Brush the pastry generously with the beaten egg.
- Place the border strips on the edges of the docked pastry. Gently press down. Brush the tops of the border with the beaten egg.
- Bake the pastry for 15 minutes, rotate the baking sheet if needed half way through baking.
- While the pastry is baking, grate the cheese(s) and thinly slice the red onion.90-120 grams grated cheddar,25-50 grams grated parmesan,¼ onion
- Slice the tomatoes about 3-5mm thick. Place the sliced tomatoes on a piece of paper towel, and then press an additional paper towel on top of the tomatoes to remove some of the moisture from the tomatoes.3-5 tomatoes
- When the pastry has baked for 15 minutes, remove it from the oven. If the middle has puffed up, simply press it down using a fork or spoon.
- Sprinkle the cheese over the center of the pastry, then lay the tomatoes on top of the cheese, and then a few slices of red onion. Top with salt and pepper.
- Bake the tart for a further 12 to 15 minutes. Rotate the pan if necessary. Remove from the oven. Serve the tart warm or at room temperature. Serve with a green salad to make lunch or dinner.
Notes
- The width of my pastry roll was the perfect size for the short length of my pan, but the roll was way too long. So I cut the pastry long enough to fit on my sheet. Then I used the leftover pastry and cut 1-inch strips. The photo beneath step 6 shows that my strips for the long sides were too short, so I just butted two strips against each other and trimmed them for the long edges.
- Allow the puff pastry to completely defrost before attempting to roll it open. If the pastry is frozen at all then it will crack when unrolling it.
- Prebaking is essential to prevent a soggy bottom.
- This tart is best served warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is an estimate, accuracy of nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. If scaling the recipe remember to scale your cook and bakeware accordingly.
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