This easy puff pastry zucchini and summer squash tart only takes a few minutes to throw together with barely any clean-up! This is a great way to use all that fresh summer time zucchini and squash. With sun-dried tomatoes, some oregano sprinkled on top, and a drizzle of balsamic glaze after it’s done cooking, this is perfect for a light lunch or dinner – or an appetizer cut into small pieces. Plus, it’s great served room temperature, so it’s perfect to put out for a party.
So, when I set out to create this recipe, I was originally going to do one of those upside-down puff pastry situations you’ve probably seen all over instagram and tiktok. Like these.
But honestly, was I really going to spend time cutting up the puff pastry and arranging each individual one? No. One giant puff pastry tart was the answer here. Plus, zucchini and summer squash have a lot of water in them, and if they were baked upside-down, that water would have nowhere to evaporate. It likely would have resulted in a soggy, mushy zucchini situation.
So here we are with a big ol’ zucchini puff pastry tart – baked right-side-up – that you can just cut up with a pizza cutter after you’re done! And it only takes about 10 minutes of prep (with barely any clean-up!).
You just roll out a sheet of puff pastry directly on a piece of parchment paper (no mess!), then score and brush with an egg, add the toppings, and bake. I’m SO pleased with this result – a crusty, flaky pastry throughout and delicious flavors from the veggies and toppings.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Zucchini and Summer Squash – or just one or the other – you don’t need to use both if you don’t want to!
- Puff pastry
- Egg – feel free to use a vegan egg substitute if you prefer.
- Red onion – or another kind of onion
- Sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil – feel free to omit these, or use very thinly sliced (and patted dry) fresh tomatoes. I don’t recommend using the sun-dried tomatoes that aren’t packed in oil and come in a bag – those burn too easily at a high roasting temperature. I made this mistake and you can see in the photos that they got a bit too crispy!
- Olive oil
- Balsamic glaze
- Dried oregano – can be omitted or substituted with another herb, fresh or dried. If using fresh basil, I recommend adding it after baking, when you add the balsamic glaze, since it doesn’t hold up well to roasting at high temperatures.
- Salt and pepper
How to make a puff pastry tart with zucchini and summer squash
First, roll out a puff pastry sheet to approximately 9 inches by 12 inches. Do this on top of a piece of parchment paper (no need to flour any surfaces here! Less mess! Yay!). Then, transfer the parchment and puff pastry to a rimmed baking sheet.
Using a sharp knife, score the edge of the puff pastry about a quarter of an inch from the edge all the way around (see photo below). This will help control where the puff pastry rises up, and make a more defined puffy crust border as it bakes.
Then, beat an egg with just a little water (this helps it be less viscous and easier to spread evenly). Add it to the puff pastry and brush everywhere, with a thin coating on the border/edges. You can leave a thick coating in the center of the puff pastry inside the border (see photo below); this will act as a “glue” to which the zucchini and summer squash stick.
Finally, arrange the zucchini and summer squash, onions, and sun dried tomatoes on top. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and dried oregano. Bake, and after it’s done, drizzle with balsamic glaze, slice, and serve!
Tips and Tricks
- Let the puff pastry tart cool for a bit before slicing while it’s still on the baking sheet after you remove it from the oven. This will help it solidify a bit before cutting into it. It will also help continue to crisp up the bottom of the puff pastry with the residual heat of the baking sheet without worrying about the rest of it getting too brown.
- The thinner you slice the zucchini and summer squash, the softer and more cooked they will be. This is a matter of personal preference. I recommend about an eighth of an inch thick. Using a mandoline slicer can make easy work of slicing the vegetables evenly and at a thickness of your preference.
Can I add cheese to this zucchini puff pastry tart?
Sure! A sprinkling of crumbled soft goat cheese or feta cheese would be delicious here. You can add this before or after baking.
Or, sprinkle some grated parmesan, asiago, or other aged hard cheese on top before baking, which will add a salty, crispy texture to the top.
Can I make it vegan and/or gluten-free?
With some substitutions, you can make this zucchini puff pastry tart vegan and/or gluten free. The non-vegan ingredients in this puff pastry tart are the puff pastry itself (which also has gluten) and the egg. You can use a vegan-friendly puff pastry (I’m not aware of a store-bought one, but here’s a homemade vegan puff pastry, and also a gluten free vegan puff pastry recipe). And any vegan egg substitute should work just fine! Using a vegan puff pastry will also make it dairy-free.
The parchment paper I’m obsessed with!!
One other quick thing – I’m OBSESSED with these parchment paper sheets that fit perfectly into a standard half-sheet pan. No cutting/weird edges, no weird fits, and they’re super heavy duty and high quality. And there are like a million sheets in the package (ok fine, there are 200). But I’ve been using the same package for about 3 years now.
Other easy zucchini recipes
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Puff Pastry Zucchini and Summer Squash Tart
Equipment
- Rolling pin
Ingredients
- 1 sheet puff pastry
- 1 egg
- 1 small zucchini sliced thinly
- 1 small summer squash sliced thinly
- 2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil julienne cut
- ¼ cup thinly sliced red onion
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano or other herbs, see notes
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons balsamic glaze
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
- Roll out the 1 sheet puff pastry on a piece of parchment paper cut to fit a standard baking sheet to approximately 9 inches by 12 inches. After you're done rolling, place the whole thing – parchment paper included – on the baking sheet.
- Using a sharp knife, score a line around the border, about ½ inch from the edge. Beat the 1 egg with just a little bit of water and then dump it in the center of the puff pastry, and use a brush to spread it all out covering the entire thing, with a thin layer on the edges (it's OK if there is a lot still in the center – this will help the squash stick to the tart).
- Layer the 1 small zucchini slices, the 1 small summer squash slices, the 2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, and the. ¼ cup thinly sliced red onion on top of the puff pastry, staying inside the lines you scored for the border. Sprinkle with ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, and ½ teaspoon dried oregano, and drizzle with the 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil.
- Bake at 425 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, or until edges of puff pastry are a deep golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes, still on the baking sheet (the residual heat will help continue to cook the bottom of the pastry, making it nice and crispy).
- Drizzle with the 2 tablespoons balsamic glaze, cut into 8 slices (or more, if serving as an appetizer) using a pizza cutter, and serve.
Notes
- Zucchini and Squash: Feel free to use all zucchini or all summer squash, instead of both. Depending on how thin you cut it, you may be able to just use one here instead of two. It’s a great way to use up any random lonely zucchini or summer squash you have around!
- Sun-dried Tomatoes: I don’t recommend using sun-dried tomatoes that aren’t packed in oil. I did this when I made it and they burned a bit. Use the ones in oil so that doesn’t happen. Or, just omit them if you prefer or don’t have any on hand! You could also do very thinly sliced or julienne-cut fresh tomatoes – if you do this, I recommend patting them dry to get as much moisture out as possible before adding them to the tart.
- Add cheese if you want: a sprinkling of crumbled soft goat cheese (chevre) or feta would be lovely here. Or, grate some parmesan cheese on top.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
Michael
Hey! This looks so great. How much puff pastry do you use exactly, how many oz. is one sheet?
Thanks!
Elizabeth Lindemann
One puff pastry sheet is 8-9 oz. Hope that helps!