Garden Vegetable Tart
Got some extra veggies in the garden? Whip up this easy Garden Vegetable Tart! This tart is the perfect snack on a warm summer evening!
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I’ve always loved a good prank. As a kid, I had a book filled with telephone prank calls. I’d call my friends and ask: “Is your refrigerator running?” They’d answer yes, at which point I’d tell them they should go chase it. Hah! Or more like hardy-har-har-har. As you can tell, I got into a lot of trouble as a kid. Nothing too bad. I mean I was a boy, and boys get into trouble. But of course those were the days before caller ID. Heck, those were the days before cell phones. Kids today don’t know what they’re missing! (To be fair, they have way more interesting things to keep them amused than we did back in the day.)
This practical joke streak has stayed with me for years. There was the time when I was working as a courier at a law office, and we filled one of the offices with balloons to celebrate someone’s birthday. I think I blew up balloons for 3 nights in preparation for that one! This past curling season, I had a nameplate printed up with one of my teammates’ names on it. You know…the kind that hang on the wall outside of offices. That nameplate got hung outside one of the stalls in men’s restroom. Whenever someone asked, we’d just say he was in his office. (And last time I checked, that nameplate is still hanging in the bathroom. Hah!) I’m always on the lookout for a good prank opportunity!
Enough about pranks, though. Let’s talk about another of my favorite topics: the garden. We love to plant a garden every year. We wander out every couple of days to check the status, and by the end of the summer we’re usually coming back to the house with a basket full of fresh garden treats. Our favorites are tomatoes, zucchini, bell peppers and a whole assortment of herbs–basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, chives, etc. (And then there’s the jalapenos…) Over the years, we’ve tried our hand at a number of other crops like corn, carrots, broccoli and pumpkins. But in the end, we always end up back with the tried and true ones.
Garden Vegetable Tart
Garden Vegetable TartOne of our favorite ways to use up extra veggies from the garden is to turn ’em into a tart. This Garden Vegetable Tart was inspired by those days of “Hmm, what are we going to do with this whole basket of veggies?”
I grabbed corn and broccolini from the store, but the tomatoes on this Garden Vegetable Tart came from our garden. (We like to plant a mix of early-season and late-season tomatoes so that we have a steady supply of fresh tomatoes throughout the summer.) Oh, and the chives that I sprinkled on top came from our garden, too. Chives are a really easy herb to grow. If you don’t have any, grab some from the store and plant ’em in a pot. We run out at least 2-3 times a week to snip fresh chives for some recipe that we’re cooking. (For the record, chives have the power to turn a boring quesadilla into an awesome ‘dilla!)
Another bonus for this Garden Vegetable Tart is that it’s served cold or room temperature. Aside from baking the puff pastry base, everything else is raw. The cream cheese base is loosened with a bit of sour cream and lemon juice. Once that gets spread on top of the puff pastry, then you’ve got a blank canvas! Experiment and have fun! Throw whatever fresh veggies you happen to have around on top.
Belong to a CSA? This Garden Vegetable Tart is perfect for extra CSA veggies. (Of course, use your best judgement here since the vegetables are served raw.) Corn, broccolini (or finely chopped broccoli) and tomatoes are one of our favorite combos. But experiment and have fun! Cheers, friends!
Garden Vegetable Tart
Ingredients
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry thawed
- 8 oz. cream cheese room temperature
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- 1½ tsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp Italian seasonings
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ pint cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 ear fresh corn sliced off cob
- ½ bunch broccolini chopped
- ½ cup feta cheese crumbled
- 2 Tbsp fresh chives chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Working on a lightly-floured surface, roll puff pastry into a 10”x12” rectangle. Transfer puff pastry onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Using the back of a paring knife, score a border into the puff pastry ½” from all sides. Using a fork, poke holes into dough every ½” inside the border. (Note: This prevents puff pastry from rising too much in oven.)
- Bake puff pastry for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool. (Tip: If the center of the puff pastry has risen, gently press it back down.)
- Meanwhile, using a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, sour cream, lemon juice, salt and pepper; stir until smooth. Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly within the borders of the cooled puff pastry.
- Arrange the tomatoes, corn, broccolini and feta cheese evenly on top of cream cheese. Sprinkle chopped chives on top before serving.
Looking for more ways to use those summer veggies? Check out these other recipes, too:
Easy Roasted Summer Veggies
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
Hahaha – quite the prankster, are you?? I’m too on occasion, but not too too often cause I’m afraid of the retaliation, lol!!! I loves me some puff pastry – that stuff can be used for just about anything, can’t it? Love this veggie loaded one….all those veggies cancel out the butter in the puff pastry, right 😉 ?? Hope you had a lovely 4th, my friend 🙂
You make a good point about retaliation, Dawn…I have to always be on the watch if I’m in a prank feud. But it’s still fun! And I definitely agree that the veggies here cancel out the puff pastry. That means it’s ok! 🙂 We’re having a great holiday weekend here…thanks! Hope your weekend is going well, too. Cheers!
I’m so jealous of your green thumb. I can’t get anything to grow except weeds and aloe. The aloe sure comes in handy for sunburns, though :). This tart looks AWESOME. I’ve been getting some incredible veggies this summer so I’m 100% trying this soon. Have a great weekend!
Aloe is super legit, Kelsie! I’m pretty sure I tried to grow it once, but it didn’t work. You should try your hand at herbs, though. They’re pretty easy! And if you do the indoor herb garden thing, it’s literally a piece of cake. Mmmm…cake. 🙂
This wonderful. I love all of your cakes, pies, donuts, but this is the kind of post and recipe that speaks to me! Not that I’m a crazy health nut, I just way prefer savory over sweet. This is wonderful.
You know, I like both savory and sweet. It just depends on my mood. And that’s the great thing about puff pastry. It works for both savory and sweet! This veggie tart is really fun, and easily adaptable based on what veggies happen to be around the house. Hope you had a great 4th, Mimi!
Ahhh….I love this tart! We don’t have any tomatoes yet, but when we do, I’ll be making this tart. I love that you can add just about anything to it. Now about those practical jokes….
We just got our first round of early tomatoes (and they went on this tart), but I suspect we’re about to get a LOT of tomatoes this year. Our plants are so happy this year! I suspect we’ll be having a lot of bruschetta here soon. Hah! But you don’t like my practical joke streak?? 🙂
Did you ever ring people’s door bells and then run away too David? Ha ha! Me bad! I did that a few times. Anyway…… Again, I have garden envie! I wish I had all those delicious fresh vegetables in my garden so I could make a tart as tasty looking as this one! What a fantastic summer garden vegetable dish. I can imagine eating this with a delicious glass of cabernet sauvignon. Whilst sitting in the garden of course!
You know, I think I did ring my friends’ doorbells and run away back when I was a kid. We’d hide in the bushes. And we used to do this thing where we’d get a generic tv remote and then go to our friends’ houses and change the tv channel through the window. We were so bad! But switching gears to this tart, I love the idea of serving this one up with a nice glass of red…with a whisky for dessert! 🙂
I have a question, David. Did Santa ever visit you or pranks didn’t count as misbehavior?:) I’m fine with pranks, and we’re friends unless lavender gets involved. Also, if I have a huge party with lots of balloons, I’ll need to include you in my guest list:) Just don’t forget to bring this scrumptious savory tart with you!
Haha! I think Santa knew that my pranks weren’t malicious. They were all in good fun! And if you happen to have a balloon party, I’ll show up…but with one of those air canisters. Forget blowing those up the old-fashioned way…haha!
Hahahahahahhahaha must tell the story of running fridge to my son LOL. Thank you so much !
Hah! I do love a good prank. Thanks so much, my friend!
Quite the prankster there, David! 😉
Loving this vegetable tart – great party fare or simple healthy summer meal. Delicious!
I think I get my prank streak from my Dad. This is the same man who once convinced me that we were related to Jesse James. And I believed him…
Also, thanks so much for the note about this tart. It really is a great way to use extra summer veggies! Hope you had a great 4th, my friend!
I remember the days of the telephone pranks, my friends and I like to make those calls too. I love these garden vegetable tarts, they are always a hit.
Too bad those telephone prank days are gone. I mean that was part of growing up! Thanks so much, Dawn! By the way, is your refrigerator running? 🙂
This tart looks delicious, David. But you can hardly go wrong with things you pull out of your garden. Nice work!
I couldn’t agree more! There’s something so satisfying about pulling things out of the garden for recipes. Thanks, Jeff!
Hahaha! Dude – that bathroom stall for an office prank is too funny! I love a good prank – or, at least hearing about them 🙂
By the way, store bought tomatoes can’t compare to garden grown ones! And…right about now I’m missing my yard and yearly tomatoes so so much! I love a puff pastry base as much as homegrown tomatoes and this would be such a joy to dig into! Thanks for sharing it!
Haha…I can’t resist a good prank when I see the opportunity! 🙂 So I know you’re probably really missing that garden right now, but you can totally grow tomatoes on a back porch. Have you considered one of those upside-down tomato growers that you hang? Some things need a garden still, but we had friends in Atlanta who were mighty clever with just their little back porch of their apartment. It can be done!
It’s so fun to see the fruits of your labor (pun intended) with gardening, isn’t it? My tomatoes are popping up everywhere right now! This tart sounds right up my alley.
Your talk of pranks is reminding me of my grandma, who was the queen of pranks! She was a little kid at heart & I remember pranking my cousins at work with her! She would toilet paper family members’ houses the night before Halloween too haha it was hilarious!
Hah! Love the pun there, Nicole. I always get confused by the fact that tomatoes are technically fruits. I mean I get it, but I still consider them veggies! 🙂
Oh my gosh. Toilet papering! I used to do that in high school. Those were good times for sure! Although I would probably be pretty annoyed if my house got TP’d now. Your grandma sounds like she was quite the character! I can’t imagine her out there toilet papering the family houses. Too funny!