Layers of tender courgette (zucchini) slices top this delicious puff pastry tart. Easy to make and full of flavour! Serve with salad for a quick family meal.
Fuelled by the success of my courgetti, we’ve been a bit spiraliser
-crazy here recently, and I had three large courgettes (zucchini) sitting in the fridge, awaiting their moment of spiralisation. But you can have too much of a good thing, so for this delicious creamy tart I decided to prepare them with a mandolin
instead. (Heaven forbid I should just cut things up with a knife!)
Using up odds and ends
There was a packet of puff pastry in the fridge – bought in a moment of panic prior to some friends coming round and then left unused – and given that the sun was shining and the weather was feeling optimistic, I decided to make a summer vegetable tart. Lovely crisp, flaky pastry, topped with soft, slightly tangy cream cheese and layers of paper-thin courgette slices. What could be nicer?
Courgette tart
The courgette tart also provided an opportunity to use up some cream cheese, which had been bought for Shavuot, but then failed to find its way into a cheesecake. I really must plan my shopping/cooking more carefully.
Although, if I did, the opportunity to create delicious puff pastry courgette tarts like this one would be lost. Better stick to my haphazard ‘system’ after all.
Courgette tart – ingredients
This fabulous puff pastry tart only used a few simple ingredients. As mentioned above, it used up a few things that we had hanging around! To make one yourself you will need:
- courgettes (zucchini) – obviously!
- puff pastry – I like the ready rolled kind for speed, but you can roll it out yourself if you prefer
- cream cheese
- olive oil
- cayenne pepper and dried basil – to flavour the courgettes
- salt and pepper
- grated parmesan or similar – optional, but delicious sprinkled over the tart when it comes out of the oven
Individual portions
I cut the puff pastry sheet into three individual tarts. I thought they would be quite big, but to my surprise, my daughter Kipper managed to eat a whole one! Mind you, there were an AWFUL LOT of puff pastry crumbs on the table, her chair, the floor, and all over her clothes, so it’s possible that she just ate the courgettes and spread the rest in a thin layer over the surrounding area.
Tasty tart!
She must have thought it was pretty delicious though, to eat the whole thing. It’s hard to get kids to eat vegetables… oh no, wait a minute…
If you wanted to make one large courgette tart, and cut it up, there’s no reason why that wouldn’t work too. I should also point out that we didn’t have any side dishes with this, so if you were serving it with potatoes and vegetables or salad, this amount would happily serve more than three. Probably four at least.
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Creamy courgette puff pastry tart
Ingredients
- 3 large courgettes (zucchini)
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- Pinch salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- Pinch cayenne pepper
- 320 g pack ready-rolled puff pastry
- 50 g cream cheese
- Grated parmesan to serve (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220°C (430°F). Line a baking sheet with parchment or silicone paper.
- Trim the ends from the courgettes (zucchini), then slice as thinly as possible, ideally using a mandolin to get <1mm slices.
- Add the oil, salt, pepper, basil & cayenne to the sliced courgettes and toss everything together to mix well. Set aside.
- Unroll the puff pastry and place onto the prepared baking sheet. (You can make one large tart or cut the pastry into several smaller rectangles as you prefer.) Use the tip of a sharp knife to score a line about 1cm (half an inch) from the edge of the pastry – be careful not to cut all the way through.
- Spread the cream cheese over centre of the pastry, just up to the scored line. Arrange the sliced courgettes over the cheese in a reasonably even layer.
- Bake the tart(s) in the preheated oven at 220°C (430°F) for 20-25 minutes, until the pastry is risen and golden and the courgettes are cooked and beginning to brown.
- Serve hot or warm, sprinkled with grated parmesan if desired.
Nutrition
More delicious courgette recipes
If you just can’t get enough courgettes (zucchini), try some of these:
- easy 15-minute courgette & tomato pasta
- creamy courgette and potato soup
- bulgar stuffed courgettes with pine nuts
- zoodle salad with avocado pesto and baby plum tomatoes
- courgette and poppyseed loaf cake
I’m submitting this recipe to some foodie linkies:
Simple and in Season, organised by Ren at renbehan.com.
And the No Waste Food Challenge, organised by Elizabeth at Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary.
Amanda
I needed a courgette recipe, searched on here and just made the most amazing looking (& smelling!) courgette tart!
Thank you! X
Helen
Yay! So happy you enjoyed it 😀
Thanks Amanda!
Janice
That does sound good, I need to get my spiraliser out again now that courgettes are becoming more plentiful and less expensive.
Elizabeth
Mmm I love the sound of this! Proper comfort food with summer veg! Thank you for sharing with the No Waste Food Challenge! 🙂
Helen
Thanks Elizabeth. Now our courgette plants are reaching ‘glut’ levels of production, we’re going to be eating a lot of these!
Food Ren (@RenBehan)
Thank you for entering your recipe into Simple and in Season. Pinned and the round up is now live! Ren
Helen
Thanks Ren! And thanks for hosting.
Jac -Tinned Tomatoes (@tinnedtoms)
Just my kind of recipe Helen. I am thinking of it with baby new potatoes and salad. Mmmmmm!
Helen
Thanks Jac. I think we just had salad but a few buttered potatoes would be lovely too.
Kiran Chug
I’m always on the lookout for good veggie recipes and this looks amazing. thank you x
Helen
Thanks! There are lots of yummy veggie recipes and ideas here, so please have a look around 😀
efwalt
Yummy! Courgettes are one of my favourite veggies – partly because its the easiest one to grow in my back garden :p this is a lovely way to use them!
Helen
Thanks Emma! They seem to like our garden too 🙂
Ciara (My Fussy Eater)
This looks delicious! I love meal ideas like this that come together by accident. They’re always the best! Have pinned!
Helen
Thanks Ciara! A surprising number of meals start life this way here…! Thanks for pinning 😀
nazima
a perfect and simple summer tart! I’ve some courgettes growing in the garden so will be making something like this later in the summer (I hope!)
Helen
Thanks Nazima. My courgette plants are starting to get established too. I’m sure I’ll be making plenty of tarts when the inevitable glut happens in about a month’s time 🙂
Ceri @Natural Kitchen Adventures
Oooh this looks good! I so miss puff pastry since going gluten free. Maybe one day I’ll try and make it myself! Love courgettes too!
Helen
Goodness – I’m not sure I’d be brave enough to attempt a gluten-free puff pastry. Good luck!
Candida
Looks great! And so simple! It’s definitely tart season …such a good way to use fresh spring and summer veg.
Helen
Thanks Candida. I’m really enjoying the summer food so far!