Zucchini Rough Puff Pastry Tart
To skip the post and step-by-step instructions and go straight to recipe, click here.Hey, everyone! IT’S SUMMER! Time for fresh air, flowy dresses, and cold drinks. Or, if you’re my parents, time for way too much garden produce that you have to share with everyone that comes over.
While I may not have my parents’ delicious homegrown produce to enjoy these days, I still try to eat lots of fresh, in-season veggies in the summertime. One of my favorites is zucchini, because it’s so versatile! You can make everything from cakes to pasta out of a zucchini. And you know what else you can make out of a zucchini? This tart!
This tart is super flaky, buttery, crispy, and full of tons of savory garlic and pepper flavor. Because it’s made with “rough puff” puff pastry and not “full puff”, you don’t have to worry about being a pro at folding and chilling a proper puff pastry, which is great because who has the time? You still get the delicious flake and butter flavor with about a quarter of the labor.
It’s great for an impressive appetizer for a party or a picnic lunch, and can even be prepped ahead of time and baked later, since the dough doesn’t contain any yeast (just keep your prepped tart covered and refrigerated).
Let me know if you give it a try, and happy baking!
Step-By-Step Walk-Through
If you’re feeling confident in your cooking skills and want to skip the walk-through, click here.
Step 1:
Make Rough Puff Pastry Dough
Using a food processor, pastry blender, or your hands, work ½ cup cold salted butter into ¾ cup all-purpose flour until no pieces of butter bigger than a large pea remain.
Pour mixture into a large bowl if it isn’t already.
Make a well in the center of the mixture.
Pour 2 ½ tablespoons cold water into the well and mix together with a large spoon until a rough dough forms. If it seems too dry, just work it a bit with your hands.
Dump dough onto a lightly floured surface and form into a rough rectangle.
Fold rectangle into thirds letter-style (top third down, bottom third up). Then, turn 90 degrees so the long sides are vertical.
Roll out to about ¼ inch thick, then repeat the folding and turning process.
Repeat another 5 times. Then, fold the pastry into thirds again, but instead of turning it and rolling it out again, wrap the folded pastry in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour.
Step 2:
Prepare Toppings
Take a medium zucchini and using a vegetable peeler, start peeling long, thin slices onto a plate (trim the ends off first).
Once you reach the seeds in the center, turn the zucchini and begin peeling from another side (be careful, once you do one side the zucchini can get a bit slippery).
In the end, you should end up with a long seedy zucchini center that you can set aside to slice and eat later.
Mince 3 cloves of garlic or measure out 1 ½ teaspoons of pre-minced garlic.
Measure out ½ cup freshly grated parmesan, a heaping ¼ teaspoon of coarse salt, ¼ teaspoon of black pepper, and ¼ teaspoon of red pepper flakes.
Beat one egg.
Step 3:
Assemble Tart
Remove your pastry from the refrigerator.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
On a lightly floured surface, roll your pastry out to a 10x12 inch rectangle. Trim the edges straight.
Transfer to a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Using a pastry brush, cover the whole surface of the pastry with beaten egg.
Sprinkle the minced garlic over the surface of the pastry, leaving about an inch around the outer edge bare for the crust.
Reserve about 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan and sprinkle the rest of it onto the pastry on top of the garlic.
Then, lay the zucchini strips over the parmesan. You can lay them in a fun pattern or weave them, but I usually just lay them out to look stripey to make it easier.
Lastly, sprinkle the salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and parmesan over the whole pastry.
Step 4:
Bake Tart
Bake the tart for 25 minutes, until very crisp and golden. Enjoy hot or room temperature. Keep leftovers in a sealed container in the refrigerator and heat in the oven at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.
Zucchini Rough Puff Pastry Tart
Servings: 4 Time: 2 - 2 1/2 hours
Difficulty: 🧡🧡🧡🤍🤍
Ingredients
FOR PASTRY
¾ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup cold salted butter, chopped into small pieces
2 ½ TBS. cold water
FOR TOPPING
1 medium zucchini
½ cup freshly grated parmesan
3 cloves or 1 ½ tsp. minced garlic
Heaping ¼ tsp. coarse salt
¼ tsp. black pepper
¼ tsp. red pepper flakes
1 egg, beaten
Directions
Step 1: Make Rough Puff Pastry Dough
Using a food processor, pastry blender, or your hands, work the cold butter into the flour until no pieces of butter bigger than a large pea remain. Pour mixture into a large bowl if it isn’t already. Make a well in the center of the mixture. Pour the cold water into the well and mix together with a large spoon until a rough dough forms (if it feels dry, just work it with your hands a little). Dump dough onto a lightly floured surface and form into a rough rectangle. Fold rectangle into thirds letter-style (top third down, bottom third up). Then, turn 90 degrees so the long sides are vertical. Roll out to about ¼ inch thick, then repeat the folding and turning process. Repeat another 5 times. Then, fold the pastry into thirds again, but instead of turning it and rolling it out, wrap the folded pastry in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour.
Step 2: Prepare Toppings
Take your medium zucchini and using a vegetable peeler, start peeling long, thin slices of the zucchini onto a plate. Once you reach the seeds in the center, turn the zucchini and begin peeling from another side (be careful, once you do one side the zucchini can get a bit slippery). In the end, you should end up with a long seedy zucchini center that you can set aside to slice and eat later. Now, if you haven’t already, you can grate your parmesan cheese, beat your egg, mince your garlic, and measure your spices.
Step 3: Assemble Tart
Remove your pastry from the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll your pastry out to a 10x12 inch rectangle. Transfer to a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Using a pastry brush, cover the whole surface of the pastry with beaten egg. Sprinkle the minced garlic over the surface of the pastry, leaving about an inch around the outer edge bare for the crust. Reserve about 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan and sprinkle the rest of it onto the pastry on top of the garlic. Then, lay the zucchini strips over the parmesan. You can lay them in a fun pattern or weave them, but I usually just lay them out to look stripey to make it easier. Lastly, sprinkle the salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and parmesan over the whole pastry.
Step 4: Bake Tart
Bake the tart for 25 minutes, until very crisp and golden. Enjoy hot or room temperature. Keep leftovers in a sealed container in the refrigerator and heat in the oven at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.