Quick Puff Pastry Tomato Tart

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This 30-minute puff pastry tomato tart is no fuss, but colorful, tasty, and impressive. All you need is store-bought puff pastry, creamy ricotta cheese, pesto, and a few other simple ingredients. Add prosciutto for a delicious extra burst of flavor.

Closeup of a slice of puff pastry tomato tart with prosciutto and basil on top, cut out of three more slices next to it.

Reasons to love it

If you’ve never made a puff pastry savory tart, you’re missing out on one of life’s easy entertaining secrets.

As well as being cute, they’re:

  • super quick and easy to make. And virtually impossible to mess up. Along with an ‘impossible’ quiche, they’re my favorite choice for a simple but impressive brunch or lunch for guests.
  • made with store-bought puff pastry. So convenient!
  • a crowd pleaser. The mixture of creamy, subtly lemony ricotta, juicy tomatoes, fragrant pesto and tasty prosciutto is a winner with most people.
  • quite versatile. Serve squares of puff pastry tomato tart as an easy appetizer, pack them cold in lunch boxes, or serve them as a simple meal for yourselves or guests.
  • easy to vary depending on what you have or what you like. Don’t have ricotta? Just spread with cream cheese or pesto. Vegetarian? Just leave off the prosciutto!

About the ingredients

You’ll find a full list of ingredients with amounts in the recipe card below. But here’s a summary of what you need to know.

All the ingredients needed to make a puff pastry tomato tart including a square of raw puff pastry, salt and pepper, fresh basil, lemon zest, pesto, ricotta cheese, prosciutto, cherry tomatoes and olive oil.

The secret to the success of this tomato puff pastry tart is just a few very fresh, very basic, but very tasty ingredients.

Puff pastry: Use a sheet of frozen (or fresh – it doesn’t matter!) store-bought puff pastry. If available, I recommend pastry made with butter.

Ricotta cheese: I usually get ‘smooth’ ricotta cheese, but really any type of ricotta that’s spreadable will be fine. It’s usually in a tub in the cheese aisle.

If you can’t find ricotta, it’s possible to use cream cheese or even a soft, creamy feta cheese instead.

Lemon zest: To stir into the ricotta for a subtle lemony flavor.

Salt and pepper: To season the ricotta cheese. Personally, I don’t go overboard on the salt, since the prosciutto is already quite salty, but I like plenty of pepper.

Pesto: Either regular or tomato pesto works very well (choose nut free if necessary).

Cherry tomatoes: Or any small tomatoes. I like the multi-colored ones, sometimes called heirloom tomatoes or rainbow tomatoes.

You can even use sundried tomatoes instead of fresh, but add them at the same time as the prosciutto – otherwise they’ll burn.

Prosciutto: This is Italian dry-cured ham. It’s rich, delicate and very tasty. Good substitutes would be serrano ham, which is the Spanish equivalent, or even a good quality regular ham.

Or you can easily make the tart vegetarian by just skipping the meat altogether.

Olive oil: I like to drizzle just a little over the prosciutto and the rest of the tomato tart for extra moisture and flavor while it finishes cooking.

Fresh basil: This is the cherry on the cake, as much for the way it looks as for the fresh flavor! We all know tomatoes and basil are a match made in heaven, but if you don’t have it, feel free to use parsley or another fresh herb instead.

So that’s just 7 ingredients, if you don’t count the olive oil and salt and pepper 😉

How to make a puff pastry tomato tart

Firstly, pre-heat the oven. Then lay the pastry on a lined baking sheet.

Score a border around the edges with a knife and bake for 5 to 10 minutes, until the pastry is part-baked and it’s started to ‘puff up’.

Collage of 2 images showing raw puff pastry with a 1.5cm border scored around the edge and then cooked and browned and puffed up.

Then push down the part inside the area you scored with the back of a spoon! It may not be as puffed up as in the photo below, which is fine.

Like this …

A square of puff pastry that has been pre-baked for 10 minutes, ready to make a tomato tart.

Then spread the mixture of ricotta and lemon zest over the middle part of the pastry that you’ve pushed down.

Spoon the pesto evenly on top, and scatter over the halved tomatoes.

Collage of 2 images showing a square of puff pastry cooked with a ricotta mixture spread over it, and then with cherry tomato halves and spoonfuls of pesto added.

Then bake for another 10 minutes.

Finally, add the prosciutto and drizzle over a little olive oil. Bake for a final 5 minutes.

Collage of 2 images showing a square puff pastry tomato prosciutto tart uncooked and then cooked.

The final touch is to scatter over fresh basil and drizzle over more extra virgin olive oil, if you like. Look how beautiful it is!

Overhead of a puff pastry tomato tart with prosciutto and basil on top, on baking paper and a wooden board with a knife.

Helen’s Top Tips

  • Use chilled pastry. Defrost the pastry sheet in the fridge, if using frozen, to keep it cool. If the pastry gets too warm, it can stop it from ‘puffing up’ as much.
  • Just lightly score the pastry. Be careful not to score all the way through.
  • Cover leftovers and store in the fridge for up to a day. Reheat for 8 to 10 minutes at 180C/350F in the oven or around half that time in an air fryer until hot again. Or enjoy cold (works great in lunch boxes!).

Serving ideas

For a light brunch or lunch, serve up to 4 people with a salad of your choice. Greek lettuce salad (maroulosalata) is a good choice since it’s fresh, simple and tasty.

To serve as part of a bigger meal, I would add potatoes parmentier (small cubed potatoes) or cold Greek potato salad with its delicious herby lemon dressing. The cherry on top would be a serving of this 5-minute Greek yogurt dip.

You can even serve a savory puff pastry tart such as this as an appetizer or side dish.

A close-up of a slice of puff pastry tomato tart on a white plate with a small green salad.

Recipe FAQs

Can you make a puff pastry tomato tart ahead?

It’s best to assemble and bake the tart just before serving, but to get ahead I suggest preparing all the ingredients and storing them in the fridge. You can prepare the ricotta mixture, for example, wash the basil, and chop the tomatoes.

Can I skip pre-baking the crust?

I find it really is best to pre-bake the crust for 5 to 10 minutes before adding the toppings. It just makes sure the pastry is properly cooked through by the time everything else is cooked, and doesn’t get soggy.

Could I add other ingredients to the tart?

Yes, of course, although it’s best to stick to either quick-cooking vegetables or use ready-cooked. For example, you could add cooked roasted vegetables, chopped asparagus (no need to pre-cook this), cooked mushrooms, caramelized onions, and even leftover cooked meats that can stand 10 minutes in the oven, such as chorizo or leftover sausage.

More puff pastry recipes

Got leftover ricotta? Use it to make this delicious 20-minute lemon ricotta pasta with broccoli and prosciutto! How about pesto? Make 15-minute stove top chicken with pesto parmesan sauce or this amazing Italian toasted veggie sandwich.

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Overhead of a puff pastry tomato tart with prosciutto and basil on top, on baking paper and a wooden board with a knife.
4.50 from 2 votes

Quick Puff Pastry Tomato Tart

This is a simple but very delicious puff pastry tomato tart that's topped with ricotta, baby tomatoes, pesto & prosciutto. It's like a puff pastry pizza! Easy enough for a simple throw-together lunch, but impressive enough to serve to guests!
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 25 minutes
Servings: 4 (with a side salad)

Ingredients 
 

  • 1 sheet puff pastry, de-frosted if frozen, but still chilled
  • cup ricotta cheese
  • 1 lemon, zest only
  • salt & pepper, to taste
  • 3 tbsp pesto,
  • 7 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 2 ounces prosciutto, (or serrano ham) torn into pieces
  • fresh basil
  • 1 tbsp olive oil, for drizzling

Instructions 

  • Pre-heat the oven to 390F/200C.
  • Place the pastry on a large baking tray lined with baking paper. Score all around the edge with a knife, leaving a border of about 1.5 cm (make sure you don’t cut all the way through the pastry).
    1 sheet puff pastry
  • Combine the ricotta cheese with the lemon zest and a little freshly ground salt and pepper in a small bowl. Put aside.
    ⅔ cup ricotta cheese, 1 lemon, salt & pepper
  • Bake the pastry for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the pastry has started to brown and puff up. Then remove from the oven and push the centre of the tart down with the back of a spoon (leave the rim of the tart puffed up).
  • Now spread the ricotta mixture over the tart, then add small spoonfuls of pesto and the tomatoes (cut side up is nice).
    3 tbsp pesto, 7 ounces cherry tomatoes
  • Bake for another 10 minutes, then add the prosciutto. Drizzle over a little olive oil and cook for another 5 minutes until the tart is golden and puffy and the edges of the meat have started to crisp.
    2 ounces prosciutto, 1 tbsp olive oil
  • Finally, sprinkle the finished tart with fresh basil leaves and drizzle with a little extra olive oil, if you like. Serve when hot or at room temperature.
    fresh basil

Notes

Pastry: This recipe assumes that you are using a square sheet of puff pastry (about 9.5 x 9.5 inches). If your pastry is a different size, you can always adjust the amount of toppings up or down slightly. In any case the amount of toppings is just a rough estimate.
Variations:
  • Use cream cheese instead of ricotta cheese.
  • Use ordinary ham instead of prosciutto.
  • Use sundried tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes (but don’t add them until the last 5 minutes or they’ll burn).
  • Add leftover cooked chopped sausage, roasted vegetables, raw chopped asparagus, or cooked mushrooms and/or caramelized onions for a tasty variation.
Storing: Perhaps surprisingly, this tart stays crisp and delicious when stored well covered in the fridge for up to a day. You can enjoy it cold for lunch (I enjoy it like this!), or you can reheat it until hot again. Try 8 to 10 minutes at 180C/350F in the oven or around half that time in an air fryer.

Nutrition

Calories: 560kcal, Carbohydrates: 34g, Protein: 12g, Fat: 42g, Saturated Fat: 12g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 20g, Trans Fat: 0.02g, Cholesterol: 31mg, Sodium: 392mg, Potassium: 254mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 665IU, Vitamin C: 26mg, Calcium: 123mg, Iron: 2mg
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About Helen Schofield

Don't expect to find anything fussy or complicated here. Just QUICK, EASY & (mostly!) HEALTHY recipes from the Mediterranean and beyond. ENJOY!

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4.50 from 2 votes (1 rating without comment)

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58 Comments

  1. This looks perfect, and perfect for the approaching summer. How I miss being able to nick into Coles for a reasonable puff pastry! Since moving to America I’ve had to learn to make it myself as my Aussie palate can’t handle the sugar content of the local version. As a result I’ve turned into a bit of a butter snob – American butter’s a different species altogether from my beloved Western Star – so will be brushing it with something fermented from France:) instead of your healthier olive oil. Thanks for this.

    1. Hello Toni, you’re welcome! I hope you enjoy it. That’s very interesting about the puff pastry in the USA being sweet – I didn’t know that so should probably add a note to the recipe. Also I didn’t know that American butter was different. My husband gets through mountains of the stuff, and it’s so expensive now, but I think still worth it for the superior taste.

    1. Happy New Year, Cheryl, and thank you so much for the encouragement. This is one of my oldest recipes, but one I still make from time to time. I’m so happy you enjoyed it too!

  2. 5 stars
    I’ve made Jamie Oliver’s upside down puff pastry pizza. I plan to make this for my daughters after Jun15th, when we’re all double vaccinated! We missed a proper Mother’s Day due to COVID-19 restrictions. 💔 Hallelujah, this lovely tart with some Prosecco will be absolutely lovely! 🍾

    1. Hello Debi! Wow, you’ve made me crave this again now! Sounds even more delicious the way you’re describing it. You must be sooo ready to get together with your family again. Happy belated mother’s day!

      1. Helen, I made last night for my husband & I as a trial. So elegant, yet easy. I added black olives since we both love. Was tempted to add vidalia onion, but was concerned of overloading it.
        Next I’m trying the chocolate cake recipe you sent me. (Forget the name). Thank you! 🙏
        BTW-I’m a Canada fan. 🇨🇦

      2. Hello Debi, it’s so lovely to hear from you. I’m so happy you’re trying a couple of my recipes, and that you enjoyed the first one! This is one of my earlier recipes but I still make it from time to time. It’s very adaptable – a bit like pizza – so I love the sound of your changes. I think you’re right not to overload it too much, but I do like the sound of adding a few onions. Maybe next time…
        Good luck with the chocolate cake. I think you’ll like that too!

  3. Love the flavour combination Helen. I cannot nap in the afternoon, as much as I would love to 🙂

  4. I love everything about this tart! All my favorite ingredients…from the puff pastry to the prosciutto to the pesto. DELISH!

  5. I could totally get used to a siesta in my afternoons! This tart looks AMAZING! Pinning it to make for a holiday gathering. 🙂 Have a lovely weekend, my friend!

    1. Thanks for pinning, Tina! It would be perfect for a holiday gathering!
      I hope you have a great weekend, too! 🙂

  6. This tart looks right up my street, Helen! Love every single flavour, the salty proscuitto with pesto is my favourite flavour combo! Definitely bookmarking this to try! 😀

    1. I really hope you do try something like this some time, Jessica. I bet you could come up with your own creative version! Have a great weekend!

  7. I so believe in afternoon naps but I really can never ever sleep no matter how hard I try. Lovely tart.