Food Lust People Love: savory tart recipes

Showing posts with label savory tart recipes. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 17, 2025

Boursin Zucchini Tart

This Boursin Zucchini Tart, baked in flakey puff pastry and scattered with toasted pine nuts, is a tasty dish that is not only delicious, it's pretty!

We first discovered the magic of Boursin when we lived in France back in the early 1990s, when it was still available in only the original garlic and herb version. Now that soft, creamy cheese comes in several flavors, including the original, Cracked Black Pepper, Shallot & Chive, Basil & Chive, and Caramelized Onion and Herbs, Fig & Balsamic and Lemon & Dill. I think there’s even one with truffles, but don’t quote me.

If you have a box of Boursin, you have the start of a good recipe! And, no, I’m not being paid to say that. In fact, I’d like to tell you that, at least in France, there are store brands of copycat cheese that I often buy instead of the real thing when I’m there, but I’ve never seen that option elsewhere. In addition to the 150g rounds, both the Boursin and store brands also come in little foil-wrapped pats, like butter, perfect for spreading on a slice of warm toast.

We do have Alouette in the US, which comes close, but no store brands that I’m aware of. Please correct me if I’m wrong! Flavored cream cheese is NOT the same consistency.

Boursin Zucchini Tart

Do not skip the salting, draining and drying steps for the zucchini. They do release a lot of extra liquid which will make your tart crust soggy otherwise. I give the weight of my zucchini below to use as a guide. A little more or less will not make a difference.

Ingredients

5.3 oz or 150g Boursin, at room temperature

1 egg, at room temperature

freshly ground black pepper

3 zucchini, approx. weight 14 1/2 ox or 411g

Fine sea salt

2 tablespoons finely minced onion

2 garlic cloves, finely minced

1/4 cup or 60ml olive oil

Ready rolled, all butter puff pastry circle, 8 oz or 227g

For garnish:

1/4 cup or 37g pine nuts, optional

Method

Whisk together the Boursin and egg then add a few generous grinds of black pepper. Chill until ready to use.

Trim the ends off then slice the zucchini thinly.

Put a single layer in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Add another layer and salt again. Continue until all of the zucchini is salted in the colander. Leave to drain for an hour or even two if you have the time.

When draining time is up, give the colander a good shake then dry the zucchini off with paper towels. Tip the slices out onto a clean cloth and spread them out. Roll up the cloth and set aside for a few minutes to dry off completely.

Add the minced garlic and onion into a large mixing bowl with the olive oil. Mix well.

Add the zucchini to the bowl and toss to coat thoroughly.

Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C.

Unroll the puff pastry with its baking parchment on a baking pan then roll/fold the edges up to create a raised edge.

Prick it all over with the tines of a fork.

Spread about two-thirds of the Boursin mixture inside the raised edge.

Starting on the outside, line the tart with the zucchini, overlapping as you go.

When you’ve used up all of the zucchini, sprinkle any garlic and onions left behind in the bowl on top.

Drizzle the remainder of the Boursin mixture over the top.

Bake for 10 minutes in your preheated oven then rotate the pan to ensure even baking and bake for a further 10 minutes or until puffed and golden.

Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts in a small skillet over a medium fire, if using.

Shake the skillet frequently so they don’t scorch. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

When the tart is baked, remove from the oven and cool slightly on a wire rack.

Slide it to a serving plate then sprinkle on the toasted pine nuts.

Cut in big wedges to serve.

Enjoy!

I can hardly believe it but Alphabet Challenge 2025 is coming to an end with this 26th post, brought to you by the letter Z! Stay tuned in the New Year for the 2026 edition. Yes, we all enjoyed this so much that we are going to start over again for the third time on January 7th. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the Z recipes below:

A Holiday Zaza or Two or Three - Cheers! from Culinary Cam
Baked Ziti from A Day in the Life on the Farm
Boursin Zucchini Tart from Food Lust People Love:
Grilled Zucchini Bruschetta Bites from Sneha’s Recipe
Lemon Eton Mess from A Messy Kitchen
Simple Zero Cream Creamy Butternut Squash Soup from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
Zacatecas Beef Stew from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
Zeppole from Jolene’s Recipe Journal
Zeytin Piyazi from Mayuri’s Jikoni

Here are all of my posts for the 2025 alphabet challenge:

A: Roasted Asparagus Soup

B: Blistered Sugar Snap Peas

C. Jersey Royal Chicken Chorizo Traybake

D. Small Batch Dried Apricot Jam

E. Whipped Espresso Cream

F. Fish Sauce Roasted Chicken

G. Extra Herby Gremolata

H. Smoked Herring Spread

I. Fresh Cherry Ice Cream

J. Small Batch Strawberry Jam

K. Kiwi Tomato Feta Salad

L. Lobster Butter

M. Milk-Roasted Chicken

N. Nocciolata Swirl Meringues

O. Jersey Octopus Ceviche

P. Easy Pastina Soup

Q. Shrimp and Quail Egg Garden Salad

R. Celeriac Mash with Scallop Roe Butter

S. Fresh Scallop Sashimi

T. Roasted Chicken Thighs with Stuffing

U. Umeboshi Calamansi Lime Juice

V. Mirabelle Plum Vodka

W. Welsh Rarebit Potatoes with Cavolo Nero

X. Homemade XO Sauce

Y. Yamitsuki Addictive Cabbage

Z. Boursin Zucchini Tart – this post!

And to refresh our memories, since this is the last Alphabet Challenge post of the year, here's my list from 2024:

A: Anchovy Deviled Eggs
B: Spicy Braised Ginger Pork Belly
C: Cecilie's Favorite Coleslaw
D: Cajun Chicken Eggplant Dressing
E: Everything Pizza Tartin
F: Baked Chicken and Feta Meatballs
G: Grape Juice Jigglers
H: Crispy Bacon-wrapped Chicken Hearts
I: Raspberry Rhubarb Ice Cream
J: Java Dry Spice Mix Chops

K. Korean Barbecue-style Meatballs

L. Easy Lamb and Fresh Tomato Curry

M. Fresh Mint Sauce

N. Miso Butter Noodles

O. Spicy Orange Braised Short Ribs

P. Homemade Piri Piri Sauce

Q, Cointreau Glazed Orange Quick Bread

R. Leek and Lobster Mushroom Risotto

S. Cheesy Sausage and Egg Casserole

T. Stuffed Turkey Cutlets

U. Spicy Urad Dal -

V. Spicy Vinegar Braised Chicken

W. Honey Walnut Brittle

X. Xmas Eggnog Fudge

Y. Yemma Aouïcha – Eggplant with Chickpeas

Z. Zucchini and Bacon Pangrattato

Pin this Boursin Zucchini Tart!

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Leek and Zucchini Tarte Tatin

Created in the late 19th century by the sisters Tatin as a special apple dessert in their hotel restaurant, Tarte Tatin gained first French then worldwide popularity when famous 20th-century epicure Curnonsky published the recipe in his 1926-volume “La France Gastronomique.” The original ingredients were simple: sugar, apples and butter for the inside, flour, butter and water for the dough. This savory version is not much more complicated and the fresh vegetables shine.

I’ve spoken here before about the two years we lived in Balikpapan, Indonesia and the limited access we had to a variety of fresh vegetables. Aside from the local greens, I really only remember potatoes and green beans and carrots on offer. I had so taken for granted the well-stocked grocery stores of my youth but those two years gave me an appreciation for what I was missing. And then, because there is a God, we moved to Paris for three years of abundance and gorgeous markets with fresh seasonal produce of every variety. I bought Roger Vergé’s Vegetables and devoured both the sweet stories of his childhood in his father’s garden and mother’s kitchen and the simple recipes that featured all the goodness and light of the vegetables available to me. In short, I fell in love. I look back upon those years as an awakening to the potential of fresh vegetables to nourish with big flavor and beauty. Even though we have lived in several different countries since then with varying degrees of produce available, I’ve always tried to follow Chef Vergé’s instructions to buy the shiny eggplant, the greens that are crisp and vibrant, the firm carrot, the unblemished tomato and, if at all possible, the newly podded pea.

The week’s Sunday Supper theme is Meatless Meals but privately, in my own head, I’ve been calling it Vegetables on Center Stage. I’ve adapted this recipe from one of my new favorite cookbooks, another French one that focuses on vegetables in all their glory, The French Market Cookbook: Vegetarian Recipes from My Parisian Kitchen by Clotilde Dusoulier. Many thanks to my friend Tammi of Momma’s Meals for hosting this great event, which could not have come at a better time for me. I’ll be visiting my two vegetarian daughters in the United States soon so I know I’ll be pinning a bunch of these recipes to try while I’m there.

Ingredients

10 oz or 285g leeks

If they are more or less the same circumference, that would be good.

10 oz or 285g small zucchini
3 small purple onions (not quite 4 1/2 oz or 125g total weight)
2 sprigs fresh thyme
9 small cherry tomatoes
Olive oil
Sea salt flakes
Black pepper
1 circle of short crust pie pastry (I used this recipe here.)

To serve: 3/4-1 oz or 25-30g Parmesan, freshly grated

Method
Trim the hard green ends and the roots off of the leeks and then cut them into lengths of about one inch or two centimeters long.

Rinse them thoroughly in running water to get rid of any dirt that might be inside, but make sure to keep the pieces whole. Drain the water and set them on a towel to dry.

Add a good drizzle of olive oil to a stovetop pan, preferably one that is also ovenproof, and place the leeks in the oil, running them around a little to make sure the whole bottom of the pan is oiled.

Rinse and trim the ends off of your zucchini. Cut them into lengths the same as the leeks.

Place them in the pan in and amongst the leeks.

Peel your purple onions and cut them into quarters, making sure to leave a bit of the core at the bottom of each piece. Place them in your pan, core side down, amongst the leeks and zucchini.

Put the pan on a medium fire and cook until the bottoms of the vegetables are beginning to brown. Check a piece of zucchini. It's less likely to fall apart.

Add in a good splash of water and pop a lid on the pan.

Allow the vegetables to steam for a few minutes. When you can poke a fork in the zucchini but still feel some resistance, take the lid off and let the moisture evaporate. Cook for a few more minutes or until the bottoms of the vegetables are nicely caramelized.

Carefully turn them over, trying to keep them upright in their places. I used a combination of a small spoon and tongs to make the turn. If your pan or its handle is not ovenproof, you can transfer the vegetables to a baking pan now. Make sure to oil the new pan and keep the vegetables brown side up.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Add your cherry tomatoes to the pan, placing them around the leeks and zucchini as evenly as you can manage. Sprinkle the vegetables with a little salt and pepper. Remember that you are going to finish this with some grated Parmesan so that will add saltiness as well.

Pull the leaves off of the thyme sprigs and scatter them on top the vegetables.

Top the whole thing with your circle of pastry dough, tucking the sides in down around the vegetables.

Using a sharp knife, cut slits in the dough to allow the steam to escape. This will ensure that your crust comes out of the oven crunchy instead of soggy.

Bake in your preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes or until the tart crust is golden brown.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the crust to loosen it.

Place your serving plate on top of your pan and, using oven mitts, quickly turn the pan over. Replace any pieces of vegetable that stuck to the pan.

Sprinkle liberally with freshly grated Parmesan and serve. I must confess that I didn’t use all the cheese before I took photos because that would have covered up the lovely vegetables. You go ahead and put it all on, unless you are taking pictures.