Puff Pastry Zucchini Tart

This easy Zucchini Tart is made with puff pastry, Boursin cheese, and thin-sliced zucchini. It's simple to prepare but packed with flavor.

Jump to:

• Ingredients Needed
• Let's Talk About the Puff Pastry
• Preparing the Zucchini
• Tips for a Well-Baked Tart
• Step-by-Step Visual Overview
• Serving the Tart
• More Savory Pies
• Full Recipe

Don't let the simplicity of this recipe fool you: this tart is packed full of flavor thanks to the use of the cult-favorite store-bought Boursin cheese and a big pile of fresh herbs. This straightforward tart recipe can be prepared with either store-bought puff pastry or homemade rough puff pastry.

This tart (similar to this Zucchini Pie) is perfect for a light and easy dinner or lunch, or as an elegant appetizer!

This recipe was inspired by a pizza I've been making on repeat at home. Because my husband dislikes red sauce on his pizza (which always makes my Italian heart weep a little bit), I always make a second pizza with a white sauce. One pizza night, feeling a bit lazy, I decided to use Boursin cheese as a white sauce base, topped it with more cheese and zucchini, and baked it. My husband and I loved it so much that we have been making it weekly ever since.

As the summer has gone on and my pile of zucchini has grown, I've been thinking up new ways to recreate that delicious combination, and so far I've come up with this tart and a pasta version as well. Basically, I want to eat zucchini and Boursin as much as I can, and If you haven't tried it yet, I highly recommend giving it a go. I have a feeling you'll love it just as much as I do!

So, let's get to making it, shall we? The text below offers tons of tips and helpful notes, or you can scroll to the bottom to grab the recipe and get started!

Ingredients Needed

Here is an overview of the ingredients needed for this recipe. The full recipe is listed below in greater detail.

• store-bought puff pastry or homemade rough puff pastry 
• Boursin (This is a cheese spread that can be found in most grocery stores in the specialty dairy or cheese section. It comes in a few flavors, but the Garlic and Fine Herbs is the most common.)
• heavy cream
• zucchini and/or summer squash
• grated Parmesan cheese (I've also made this with other grated hard cheese such as Pecorino, as well as shredded soft cheese like mozzarella, and they both work as well!)
• good olive oil (something that you like the taste of is sufficient!)
• fresh herbs (such as basil, dill, and chives)

Let's Talk About the Puff Pastry

My goal for this recipe was ease, so I wanted to make sure it worked with readily-available store-bought puff pastry.

Purchased puff pastry typically comes either in one folded 14-ounce sheet or two folded 8-ounce sheets. Please note: I haven't tried all brands, so your store-bought puff pastry may be different than this.

The instructions below are flexible to accommodate different sizes of store-bought puff pastry, so don't sweat it if the one you purchase is a different size or configuration. The important part is that it should be thawed in the refrigerator overnight and kept at a cold temperature during prep to ensure the integrity of the pastry.

Want to make your own puff? Go for it! In fact, the only reason I buy store-bought puff pastry anymore is if I need to test a recipe to ensure it works as intended. I much prefer to spend the time putting together a batch of Rough Puff for a few reasons:

1. It's so much cheaper to prepare it yourself. Store-bought puff pastry is expensive!
2. It's far superior, even if you splurge for a "high-quality" store-bought brand. Side by side, my homemade puff pastry rises much higher and tastes much better than anything commercially-made.
3. I enjoy making it!

Never made puff before? Rough puff pastry is made by laminating (or layering) an enriched butter dough that is very similar to pie crust, except that it's rolled and folded five times. My recipe yields enough for two tarts, so you can cut the recipe in half or have another pastry to use for something else.

Preparing the Zucchini

You can use either zucchini or summer squash, or a combination of both.

To prepare the zucchini: Wash and dry them well, then slice them thinly. About ¼" to ⅛" thick is ideal, however exact thickness is less important than aiming for the slices to be roughly the same thickness. This ensures that they cook evenly and finish cooking at the same time.

The zucchini will be "shingled" onto the tart, with a slight overlap of the pieces. How you shingle them is up to you!

Be sure to liberally salt and pepper your zucchini before it goes in the oven, and drizzle a bit of good olive oil over the top right before serving.

Tips for a Well-Baked Tart

Chilling the pastry before baking makes the puff pastry bake up taller. This is why the instructions call for placing the puff pastry in the refrigerator as you assemble the rest of the tart ingredients. Alternatively, it can also be placed in the freezer.

The instructions call for "docking" the middle of the puff pastry. This helps to prevent the middle part of the pastry from puffing up too much. However, sometimes the pastry goes rogue and still puffs up. If this happens, poke a hole in the pastry to let the trapped steam escape. Just be careful not to put your hand anywhere near the steam, as it will, of course, be hot!

To bake, preheat the oven to 400ºF and set a rack in the lower middle position in the oven. This small step of baking it in the lower part of the oven ensures that the puff pastry bakes through on the bottom, but the zucchini doesn't burn from the top.

Serving the Tart

The tart should be served soon after it comes out of the oven. It should cool for a few minutes on a wire rack until it's no longer too hot to handle. Then drizzle with good olive oil and liberally sprinkle with fresh herbs.

What herbs you use is a personal choice, but a combination is great. I especially like a combo of basil, chives and dill. If you just have one herb, that's okay, too. Just don't skip out on adding fresh herbs, as it really helps this dish feel bright and summery.

Slice the tart into 12 or 16 square pieces and serve while it's warm or at room temperature.

Leftover zucchini tart can be stored in an airtight container for 1-2 days, and reheated in a toaster oven.

More Savory Pies

I am so honored when you make a recipe from my site! If you make this Easy Zucchini Tart, please leave a star ⭐️ rating with your experience! If you have any questions about this recipe, feel free to comment here, and tag me on Instagram!

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