Beautiful tomato tart with a creamy pesto spread and fresh garden fruit and herbs. So impressive, but incredibly easy to make. Enjoy it as a simple side, afternoon snack, or served for brunch, it is sure to wow your friends and family!
Round out the meal with this sweet and tangy Lemon Tart and Watermelon Sangria.
With my son and daughter older now and self-sufficient, I’m spending this summer tending more to our 3rd child – my garden! I’ve had so many sugar snap peas, and now my cherry tomatoes and jalapenos are coming in. Whenever I see a new flower bud, it’s like Christmas!
Along with the fruits and veggies, my herbs are insane – I have more basil than I know what to do with, which means homemade pesto. Pesto and fresh garden tomatoes always leads to this Tomato Tart.
Puff Pastry Tomato Tart – Why We Love It
Put homemade pesto sauce, fresh tomatoes, and puff pastry together and you end up with this wonderfully simple Tomato Tart.
- Fresh summer tomatoes paired with flaky puff pastry were meant to be married.
- Pesto mixed with whipped cream cheese is good enough to eat off a spoon.
- It’s simply beautiful!
- Looks impressive, but is crazy easy to make.
- This tart is vegetarian, accommodating friends and family who need something meatless.
- Proof that having a garden is worth its weight in spades.
We love this tart as a simple side or afternoon snack, but it’s always so lovely served for brunch or at a luncheon. Cut it into squares or triangles, big pieces or small. Either way, it’s fresh, light, beautiful, and delicious.
Tomato Tart Recipe
Here’s what you’ll need to make this Tomato Basil Tart:
(Scroll below to the printable recipe card for details and measurements.)
- Frozen puff pastry: Thawed according to package directions. Once baked, it’s delicate, light, and flaky!
- Tomatoes: Fresh, sweet, ripe garden tomatoes are the absolute best here. Beefsteak, roma, and Heirloom all work. Pat the slices dry to remove any excess moisture, so the tart isn’t wet.
- Pesto sauce: Our homemade pesto recipe is packed with so much fresh flavor, but store-bought is fine, if you’re in a pinch. Buy the best quality for optimal results.
- Cream cheese: You’ll need whipped, softened cream cheese so spreading is super easy and doesn’t tear the pastry.
- Basil: This pungent herb has a distinct sweet and savory flavor and wonderful in this recipe. Fresh leaves are a must with this tart – skip the dried.
- Parmigiano-Reggiano: Freshly grated off the block, not the pre-grated kind.
- Garlic: Fresh garlic for aromatics and best flavor.
- Extra virgin olive oil: Drizzled over the tomatoes, adding richness and flavor.
- Milk: Just a touch of milk gets mixed with the cream cheese and pesto, to loosen it up a bit and make it spreadable.
- Salt and pepper: For taste, to heighten all the other flavors.
- Egg and milk: Beaten together to make an egg wash so the pastry bakes up nice and golden.
Tips for Success
- Use fresh ingredients: The fresher the ingredients, the better the overall end result.
- Pat those tomatoes dry: Remove any excess moisture from the tomato slices to avoid a soggy pastry.
- Cover most of the pastry with the pesto and cream cheese mixture: It’s important to evenly spread the cheese mixture over the pastry bottom (not including the border), where the tomatoes will sit on top. This helps create a barrier between the pasty and fruit juices.
What to Serve with Tomato Tart
This tart is fresh and light, so I like to serve it alongside other light dishes. Here are a few ideas:
Other Garden Tomato Recipes
- Panzanella {bread and tomato salad}
- Fried Green Tomatoes
- Tomato Biscuit Casserole
- Cucumber Tomato Salad
I hope you love this delicious and simple recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
Tomato Tart
Ingredients
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry , thawed
- 1 egg + 1 tablespoon milk , beaten together to make an egg wash
- 3 ounces whipped cream cheese , softened
- 3 tablespoons pesto sauce
- 1-2 tablespoons milk
- 2 medium tomatoes , sliced 1/4-inch thick, patted dry with paper towels
- Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper , to taste
- 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- 1 clove garlic , finely minced
- 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 4-5 large fresh basil leaves , julienne or torn
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with a sheet of lightly floured parchment paper. Unfold the pastry onto the parchment.
- Lightly brush entire pastry with the egg wash. Pierce pastry several times with fork. Bake about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and gently lift pastry to a rack to cool off a bit.
- Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
- In a small mixing bowl combine cream cheese and pesto. Add a tablespoon of the milk at a time and determine whether you need to use both – you want the mixture to be loose, but not runny. Mix well.
- Spread cream cheese mixture carefully over bottom of pastry, leaving a 1/2 inch border.
- Arrange tomato slices, slightly overlapping, on top of cream cheese mixture. Season with salt and a few grinds of pepper, then sprinkle the parmesan and garlic all over, and drizzle with olive oil.
- Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until the edges of pastry are golden brown, has puffed up, and there are no visible juices from the tomatoes. (Watch it carefully to make sure the edges aren't over-browning.)
- Remove from the oven and sprinkle with basil.
- Let tart cool for 10 minutes, then slice into squares and serve warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition
Other Notes
This tart is amazing, i made it for a brunch and it was so light and refreshing. Use different colored heirloom tomatoes for a really pretty presentation and the whipped cream cheese makes it extra light.
This is gorgeous! Must make.
This tart is uhmazing. Served this for a baby shower and it was the star. Well, other than the pregnant mom-to-be. LOL. Summer perfection.
This was sooooo good. I’m always hesitant to work with puff pastry, but I’m so glad I did.
Tomatoes and basil are really the best part of summer. Gorgeous tart!
Loved this so much. I use cherry tomatoes (sliced in half), added extra basil, and also topped mine with crumbled feta. DELISH.
Served this as a side to grilled steak. I added a sprinkle of goat cheese on top. So simple and so incredibly delicious – thank you!