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Simple Tomato Tart Recipe

This tomato tart is perfect for those home grown tomatoes where you want to show off the gorgeous flavors, but choose any fresh tomatoes and you’ll be happy with this. It’s a great simple recipe with a ton of flavor.

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Slice of tomato tart sitting on a white plate.

I’m not a pie lover. That said, I love making and eating my apple pie (which is really a crisp). And peach pie is one of my favorites, but I’d rather go savory.

I’m much more of a quiche girl, which really is just pie as a meal instead of pie as a dessert.

I mean, hey, tomato tart. That’s healthy. Ish. Kind of. Ok, more so than French silk pie, right?

Is it the prettiest pie you’ve ever seen? No, but if you’ll recall, this was the pie dough I made last week when I had my migraine.

And that food processor pie dough is pretty darn tasty. Even if it wasn’t so pretty this time around.

Can I use a store bought crust?

Yes! You can absolutely use a refrigerated or frozen crust in place of making your own. It works the same and definitely saves you some time and energy.

Be sure it is cold, though not still frozen. You do not need to parbake the crust for this recipe.

How do I keep my pie crust from burning?

When you have a pie that cooks for an extended period, there are times that the edges of the pie crust get cooked faster than the actual pie. You do not want a burned crust.

Thankfully, you can avoid that if you watch the crust. Turn on your oven light after 15-20 minutes. If it looks like the edges are getting brown too fast, you can use a pie crust shield to protect them and keep them from burning.

Alternatively, you can wrap tin foil around the edges once it has turned golden brown to protect them. Simply tear off short sheets of aluminum foil and wrap them around the edge of the pie.

What kind of tomatoes should I use for a tomato pie?

The goal is to taste tomatoes, so if you have fresh tomatoes from your garden, use them. If you can purchase heirloom tomatoes, go for it.

You want flavorful tomatoes, and oftentimes, the roma or beefsteak tomatoes from the grocery store do not fit the bill. They work in a pinch though.

Ideally, you want “full size” tomatoes. This isn’t a recipe for grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes (make my oven roasted tomatoes or tomato basil biscuit cups with those).

Why shouldn’t I use the green can of parmesan?

Oh that green can. Honestly, just toss it. Fresh parmesan tastes so much better, and it can even be less expensive.

The green can has a ton of fillers in it that keep it from sticking together, which also mean that it doesn’t melt as well in addition to affecting the flavor.

Get a block of parmesan and use a microplane zester to quickly grate a small amount for pizza or pasta. When I make a recipe like this, I have a rotary cheese grater with a series of attachments that I use that grates my cheese in seconds.

How to Make a Tomato Tart

You can go ahead and put our crust into the pie pan or tart pan, but then stick it back in the fridge so it stays nice and cold.

Blanch the tomatoes

Start by preparing your tomatoes. You want to peel, seed, and dice your tomatoes, which is not nearly as hard as it sounds.

To peel your tomatoes, you need to quickly blanch them. Get a pot of water simmering on the stove. Then cut a shallow X on the bottom of each tomato.

Fresh tomato with an X cut into the bottom.

Have an ice bath ready for the tomatoes for when they are done blanching.

Easiest way? Get a decent size bowl, fill it with a bunch of ice from your freezer. Add water, swishing the bowl as you do so to ensure that the ice doesn’t freeze into a giant block and instead stays separate cubes.

Bowl of water with ice cubes in it sitting on a counter.

Now you’re ready to blanch the tomatoes. Using a slotted spoon, carefully place a couple tomatoes into the water.

Let them sit for less than a minute before you fish them out. Immediately place them in the ice bath.

I get into a rhythm with this where I will have two tomatoes in the ice bath, two tomatoes in the water, and two tomatoes being peeled and the timing of it works for me. Figure out what works for you.

Once the tomatoes have cooled for a couple minutes, pull one from the ice bath. You’ll notice that the skin around where you had made your shallow X is peeling back by itself.

Blanched tomato with the skin starting to peel away.

Simply take the skin, and pull it back. You’ll be amazed by how easy it is to peel. This also works for other fruits like peaches and the like, when you need to peel those.

Seed and dice the tomatoes

You want as much liquid out of the tomatoes as possible. To do this, the first step is seeding.

Cut the tomato into pieces. For a medium size tomato, six is usually enough. For a larger tomato, I may need 8 or even 10 to ensure that each seed membrane is accessible to me.

Pick up a slice, run your thumb on the edge of the seeds, and they all pop out. Do this for each tomato.

Tomatoes cut up and seeded sitting on a wooden cutting board.

Go ahead and dice them. You want them about a quarter inch square, but exactness isn’t important.

Once they’re diced, I like to wait a little to get the more water out. I’ll put them in a colander and let the juices seep out for another twenty minutes or so.

Although the breadcrumbs help keep the tart from being soggy, the more juice you remove up front, the better. While you’re waiting is a good time to go ahead and mince your garlic cloves.

Assemble the pie

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Mix the breadcrumbs with the herbes de Provence and 1/4 cup of your Parmesan cheese. Place this in the bottom of your pie crust, evenly covering the surface.

Bread crumbs mixed with herbs and parmesan cheese inside a pie crust.

Now that your tomatoes have released their juices, go ahead and place them into a small bowl. Add the olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper to your tomatoes.

Stir it up and taste to make sure the salt and pepper is at a good level for you, remembering that you’re still going to be adding a ton of Parmesan, so the salt can be a little light.

Place the tomatoes gently onto the bread crumbs, ensuring it is in an even layer. Add the rest of your shredded Parmesan atop the tomatoes.

Place the tart into your 400 degree oven, and bake it until slightly browned, around 45 minutes or so.

Whole tomato tart in a pie dish fresh from the oven.

This is great while still hot, or you can serve it room temperature. Trust me, it’s awesome either way.

This works wonderfully as an appetizer, or you can be like me and eat it for your meals. Yes, it makes an awesome breakfast. Just sayin’.

Save this tomato tart recipe to make again!

Slice of tomato tart sitting on a white plate.

Tomato Tart

This savory pie is easy to make and tastes absolutely delicious - especially with fresh tomatoes from your garden.
5 from 4 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: main dish
Cuisine: Italian
Diet: Vegetarian
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Additional Time: 4 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 9 minutes
Servings: 8 slices
Calories: 286kcal
Author: Michelle

Ingredients

  • 1 pie crust
  • 6 large ripe tomatoes
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
  • 1 tablespoon herbes de Provence
  • 1 1/4 cups Parmesan cheese shredded

Instructions

  • Prep crust in pie pan, and place in refrigerator.
    1 pie crust
  • Simmer pot of water on the stove, and prepare an ice bath.
  • Cut a shallow X on the bottom of each tomato. Using a slotted spoon, carefully place a couple tomatoes into the water for 1 minute, then place them in the ice bath.
    6 large ripe tomatoes
  • Let cool for a couple minutes, and pull the skin off the tomatoes.
  • Cut tomato into pieces. Remove the seeds from each section and discard seeds. Dice tomatoes.
  • Place in colander for 20 minutes to remove additional juice. Lightly dust with salt to accelerate the process.
  • Mince garlic.
    3 cloves garlic
  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  • Mix breadcrumbs with the herbes de Provence and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Place in pie crust, evenly covering the surface.
    1 1/2 cups bread crumbs, 1 tablespoon herbes de Provence, 1 1/4 cups Parmesan cheese
  • Add drained tomatoes to a small bowl, and mix in olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. Taste for flavor, knowing you have salty parmesan in your pie, as well.
    2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper
  • Place tomatoes onto bread crumbs. Cover with remaining shredded Parmesan.
  • Place tart into 400 degree oven, and bake it until slightly browned, approximately 45 minutes.
  • Serve immediately, or let cool to room temperature.

Notes

  • Use flavorful tomatoes - this is perfect for tomatoes from your garden or heirloom tomatoes.
  • For more tips and tricks, be sure to read the full article above.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 286kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 9mg | Sodium: 495mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g

This site uses an online source to provide nutrition estimates as a courtesy. If you need exact values, please calculate yourself.

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

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  1. […] Afraid of pie crust? Not with this food processor pie crust recipe! I had grand plans for this week’s Tasty Tuesday.  I was going to make one of my favorite late summer dishes that I hadn’t made in forever that most people haven’t had before.  Have you ever enjoyed Tomato Pie? […]

  2. Michelle says:

    Sandra – I had never heard of it until I had it one day myself. I love savory pies though, and this was awesome. I can't wait to make it again 🙂 Maybe for teacher conferences. Hmmmm….

  3. Sandra says:

    I have never heard of a tomato pie, but I can imagine the taste of this. I think I would like it, but sadly, no one in my family would join me. I love tomatoes!

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