Description
This savory vegetable cheese tart combines a thick buttery crust, a creamy herbed cheese filling, and a beautiful adornment of crisp roasted veggies! Top with fresh herbs and serve as an appetizer, lunch, side dish, or main course.
Ingredients
- Buttery Flaky Pie Crust or All Butter Pie Crust (my recipes both make 2 crusts; freeze the 2nd half for later use)
- 1 cup ricotta cheese, at room temperature
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese (or other favorite cheese)
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 Tablespoon favorite fresh herbs or 2 teaspoons dried herbs (I use a mix of thyme, rosemary, and parsley)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- pinch black pepper
- 1–2 cups thinly sliced vegetables such as sweet potatoes, zucchini, carrots, mushrooms, asparagus, brussels sprouts*
- topping: 2 Tablespoons olive oil, coarse sea salt, more pepper + herbs
Instructions
- The crust: Prepare my pie crust recipe or all butter pie crust through step 5.
- After the pie crust has chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Roll out the chilled pie dough and blind bake: On a floured work surface, roll out one of the discs of chilled dough (you can freeze the 2nd for later use, see note). Turn the dough about a quarter turn after every few rolls until you have a circle 12 inches in diameter. Carefully place the dough into a 9-inch tart pan.* Tuck it in with your fingers, making sure it is smooth. Fold the overhang edges back inward. See video above for a visual. Flute the pie crust edges. Chill for 20 minutes in the refrigerator or freezer. (Crust will shrink otherwise!) Line the chilled pie crust with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Fill with 2 sets of pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove tart from the oven and carefully lift the parchment paper/aluminum foil (with the weights) out of the crust.
- The filling: Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the ricotta, eggs, parmesan cheese, garlic, herbs, salt, and pepper together until completely combined. Pour into warm crust. Arrange vegetable slices on top. Brush the vegetables and edges of the crust with olive oil, then sprinkle with sea salt, pepper, or more fresh herbs.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until the vegetables and crust are lightly browned and crisp. After the first 15 minutes of bake time, place a pie crust shield on top of the tart to prevent the edges from browning too quickly. You can also tent a piece of aluminum foil over the whole tart if the top is browning too quickly.
- Slice and serve tart warm or at room temperature. Cover and store leftover tart in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions – 1-5 Days Ahead: You can get started by combining all the filling ingredients one day ahead of time. Keep filling covered tightly in the refrigerator until ready to assemble tart. You can also make the pie dough 1-5 days in advance since it needs to chill. If you want to bake the tart 1 full day in advance, bake it as directed, allow it to completely cool, then cover tightly and keep in the refrigerator overnight. Bring to room temperature before serving.
- Make Ahead Instructions – Freezing: The baked and cooled tart freezes well for up to 3 months, tightly wrapped in a couple layers of plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Rolling Pin | 9-inch Tart Pan | Pie Weights | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Pie Crust Shield
- Freezing Pie Dough: You can freeze the 2nd pie dough for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.
- Pie Dish: A 9-inch pie dish works instead of a tart pan.
- Mini Tarts: Roll out the pie dough as instructed above. Cut the dough into circles and press tightly into the mini tart pan. You’ll want the circles to be about 1 inch larger in diameter to your mini tart pan. Use a round cookie cutter for perfect circles. No need to blind-bake the crust. Pour filling evenly into each crust and bake at 350°F (177°C) until crust edges are lightly brown.
- Different Vegetables: Thinly sliced tomato, zucchini, potatoes, onion, sweet potatoes, and peppers can be arranged on the tart without cooking first. (Though you certainly CAN cook first, read on…) Thinly sliced or chopped brussels sprouts, eggplant, butternut squash, mushrooms, broccoli and any thicker/harder veggies should be softened first: sauté on the stove for a couple minutes in a little olive oil before arranging on the tart. When in doubt, sauté your veggies on the stove first. This step guarantees whichever vegetable you use will be sufficiently cooked on the baked tart.