Puff Pastry Vegetable Tart Recipe
This Puff Pastry Vegetable Tart recipe with asparagus and artichokes baked on a sheet pan is an easy way to feed a group! Purchased puff pastry makes the crust effortless and the three-cheese blend of creamy ricotta, nutty Asiago and tangy goat cheese makes it extraordinary! Vary the veggies to suit any season!
Why This Recipe is a Keeper!
While it’s possible to make your own puff pastry, frozen puff pastry sheets are a terrific no-fail convenience item that delivers professional results.
Two puff pastry sheets from a well-known brand overlapped, placed together and rolled out to extend their size fits perfectly into a 15 x 10-inch rimmed baking sheet to create one large tart perfect for a large group.
Topped with asparagus, artichokes and scallions for spring, this Puff Pastry Vegetable Tart recipe is super versatile and can be made with any combination of vegetables and cheeses.
Let’s make it!
How to Make Puff Pastry Vegetable Tart:
Recipe Ingredients:
Here’s everything you’ll need to make this recipe along with how to prep. See the tart recipe card below for the exact quantities.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions:
- Puff Pastry: The most well-known brand of puff pastry is Pepperidge Farm. You’ll find it in the frozen desserts section of your grocery store. I use it frequently and always have good luck with it. The only problem with it is it’s folded and the seams need to be “repaired.” Thaw the puff pastry in the refrigerator for 6-8 hours. Thaw at room temperature for approximately 40 minutes or until you can just get it unfolded. Allowing it to get warm will make it difficult to work with.
- Asparagus: Use thin to medium-width asparagus.
- Artichoke Hearts: Even when fresh, artichokes have a delicate flavor. I prefer to use frozen artichokes in this vegetable tart recipe because frozen artichokes taste the most like fresh artichokes. If you must use canned, be sure to drain and pat dry.
- Asiago: Can also use Parmesan cheese.
- Ricotta Cheese: I like to use whole milk ricotta because it has the best flavor and texture. Always buy a quality whole milk ricotta such as Murray’s.
Step-By-Step Instructions:
- Gather and prep all the ingredients.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and spray a 15 x 10-inch rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.
- Heat olive oil in a nonstick skillet or saute pan over medium-high heat.
- Add the asparagus then reduce the heat to medium and cook 1-2 minutes or until it turns bright green.
- Add the scallion and cook briefly just to soften it.
- Set that aside to cool while prepping the puff pastry crust.
- Unfold the thawed puff pastry onto a floured work surface.
- Repair the folds by pressing them back together.
- Stack the sheets so they overlap slightly–approximately 1-2 inches.
- Roll the puff pastry out to create a piece that is 1-2 inches larger than the 15 x 10-inch rimmed baking sheet, using the baking sheet as a guide.
- Carefully transfer the rolled-out puff pastry dough to the prepared baking sheet.
- Fold any excess edge back down to form a crust.
- Dock the puff pastry with a fork.
- MAKE AHEAD: Prepare the dough and have all the other ingredients prepped and the asparagus and scallions lightly cooked as directed. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to assemble and bake.
- Start the layering process:
- Sprinkle half the Asiago cheese over the unbaked crust.
- Evenly scatter the asparagus, artichoke hearts and scallions.
- Sprinkle the remaining Asiago cheese over the vegetables.
- Whisk together the ricotta cheese and eggs in a medium bowl until very smooth and becomes a thick liquid.
- Add salt and black pepper and pour the ricotta and egg combination over the vegetables. The ricotta and egg combination may not spread all the way to the crust but that’s okay–it’s going to spread out as it bakes.
- Drop the goat cheese evenly over the tart.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375 degrees. Continue baking for another 25 minutes or until the crust is lightly golden and the center is set.
- That’s it, friends!!
- Garnish with fresh baby greens or herb sprigs.
- Then cut into pieces and serve!
Chef Tips and Tricks:
- To get the rolled-out puff pastry onto the baking sheet without tearing it or stretching it out more, lightly flour the puff pastry then roll the pastry onto a well-floured rolling pin. Place the rolling pin on one of the short sides of the sheet pan and unroll the pastry onto the sheet pan, making adjustments to placement as needed.
- When trimming the tough ends off asparagus, bend one of the stalks in the lower ⅓ until it breaks. Where it breaks is where you should cut the remainder of the bunch. They’re all typically the same size in the bunch so have the same “breaking point” because most likely they were all growing next to each other.
Frequently Asked Questions:
To “dock” pastry means to prick it with a fork before baking. This technique simply pokes holes in the pastry dough. This allows steam to escape so that the pastry doesn’t puff up in the oven. This technique is typically used when blind baking a pie crust before filling.
Keep in mind one of the main ingredients in puff pastry is butter. Puff pastry that is too warm will wilt and become floppy which causes the layers to stick. If the puff pastry becomes difficult to work with, that’s a sign you could end up with a soggy crust. Return the pastry to the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes or give it a quick chill in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before moving forward.
That will depend on the recipe. If you top/fill it after baking and serve at room temperature as with my Roasted Cherry Tomato Tart with Herbed Ricotta, you’ll want to bake it first. Because of the liquid filling in this puff pastry vegetable tart recipe, you can bake everything at once.
Substitutions:
- Use regular pie crust for the crust. Blind-bake first. This post for my asparagus tart shows you how.
- Almost any combination of vegetables can be used in this tart:
- Give it Mediterranean flair with zucchini, bell peppers and eggplant.
- Give it fall flair with butternut or other winter squash.
- Add or substitute mushrooms for the artichokes.
- Tomatoes (salted and drained on paper towels first) and fresh basil for a lovely summery tart.
Serve with:
- Cream of Celery Leaf and Scallion Soup
- Spinach Goat Cheese Bisque with Crispy Lemon Chickpeas
- French Lentil Salad
More elegant tart recipes!
- Asparagus Onion and Fontina Tart
- Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Tart with Thyme
- Provencal Vegetable and Goat Cheese Tart
- Tomato Ricotta Tart with Basil Pesto
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Puff Pastry Vegetable Tart Recipe
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Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 bunch (1 pound) thin to medium-width asparagus - tough ends trimmed
- 4 scallions - white and light green part only, coarsely chopped
- All-purpose flour
- 2 sheets frozen puff pastry - (from a 17.3-ounce package)
- 1 heaping cup freshly grated Asiago cheese - divided
- 1 cup artichoke hearts - from a 14-ounce bag of frozen, thawed, squeezed of excess moisture and coarsely chopped
- 6 large eggs - beaten
- 1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese
- herb sprigs or baby greens - for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Spray a 15 x 10-inch nonstick baking sheet with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a nonstick skillet or saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the asparagus, reduce heat to medium and cook 1-2 minutes or until it turns bright green. Add the scallion and cook 1 minute. Set aside to cool.
- Lightly flour a work surface. Unfold the puff pastry sheets onto the floured work surface and gently press and repair the folds. Stack the sheets so they overlap by 1-2 inches to form one large puff pastry sheet.
- Roll the newly formed single sheet out to form a rectangle that is approximately 1-inch larger than the sheet pan, using it as a guide.
- Carefully transfer the pastry to the prepared sheet pan. Fold the edges down into the sheet pan to form an even crust around the rim. Dock the crust with a fork in numerous places to let steam escape.
- Sprinkle half the Asiago cheese over the crust. Top with the asparagus, scallion and artichoke hearts distributing them evenly.
- Whisk the eggs and ricotta cheese together until smooth. Add the salt and a pinch or two of black pepper.
- Pour the egg/ricotta mixture over the vegetables and gently smooth.
- Top the tart evenly with goat cheese.
- Place the tart in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake for another 25 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned.
- Cut into pieces and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
These are estimated values generated from a nutritional database using unbranded products. Please do your own research with the products you’re using if you have a serious health issue or are following a specific diet.
Can this be assembled, uncooked except for the asparagus and scallions, then frozen and go from freezer to oven? Thank you, it sounds like a wonderful brunch for the girlfriends.
Hi, Patty, Thanks so much for your question. I don’t recommend freezing it. To make ahead, prepare the dough and have all the other ingredients prepped and the asparagus and scallions lightly cooked as directed. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to assemble and bake. Thanks again and hope this works for you!