Easy Tomato Caprese Tart with Pesto

This Tomato Caprese Tart layers mozzarella cheese and basil pesto on fresh tomatoes in a pastry shell, for an easy side dish or appetizer. 

If you use a store-bought tart shell and pesto, this recipe comes together super-quick and easy. Once it's assembled, slide it into the oven to bake for 15 minutes to melt the cheese.

Jump to Recipe

Jump to:

• What is a Caprese salad?
• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Recommended Equipment
• Is mozzarella cheese vegetarian?
• Can I use frozen puff pastry to make this tomato tart?
• Tips For Making a Perfect Tomato Tart
• Tomato Caprese Tart Recipe
• Tips For Making a Winner Tomato Caprese Tart

If Tomato Caprese Salads are all the rage throughout the summer, and they are, why not take it a step further and turn it into a Tomato Caprese Tart? I love to make vegetable tarts, and use both puff pastry sheets and make tart shells from scratch. This savory tart was inspired by this Zucchini and Corn Tart with Mozzarella and this super easy Tomato Tart with Artichoke Spread.

Total winner, you guys. If you use it as an appetizer, each piece is one - two bites, and each bite of tomato tart explodes with flavor in your mouth.

My husband couldn't come up with a single way to make them better. Woot!!! And if you want another way to use tomatoes as an appetizer, roast them with a little balsamic vinegar, and layer them with feta cheese and crackers.

Or, another way to share the beauty of simple tarts is with blueberry tarts. I've used a rectangular tart pan for them as well as small tart tins to make blueberry tartlets.

What is a Caprese salad?

Caprese is an Italian dish that interleaves slices of juicy fresh garden tomatoes with slices of mozzarella and basil leaves. The Caprese part of the title refers to the Island of Capri, where this dish is touted to have originated.

The beauty of it is that it's incredibly easy, requires very few ingredients, and uses fabulous summer tomatoes and basil. It's seriously not the same with anemic winter tomatoes.

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Instructions

Step 1

Bake the tart shell. Either make your own tart shell or purchase one frozen and par-bake it.

Step 2

Prep the tomatoes. While the tart shell bakes, slice up some ripe but firm tomatoes. Lightly salt them and let them drain either on paper towels or a cooling tray fitted into a baking sheet (shown above).

Step 3

Make the pesto if you're not purchasing it pre-made.

Step 4

Layer ⅔ of the mozzarella on the bottom of the par-baked tart and arrange the tomatoes on top in rows.

You can either add a smear of pesto to the tops of the tomato slices at this stage or wait until the end before serving. 

Step 5

Bake. Lower the oven temperature, and slide the tart into the oven. Roughly 15 minutes before the tart is done, add with the reserved mozzarella between the rows of tomatoes. Finish baking.

Step 6

Slice. Cool for a few minutes, and slice into the size pieces you want. If you didn't add the pesto in Step 4, add a dollop to each piece now.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Is mozzarella cheese vegetarian?

Traditional mozzarella is not vegetarian. It uses an animal rennet, typically an enzyme harvested from the stomach or lungs of a slaughtered calf.

However, many modern types of mozzarella are strictly vegetarian because they use microbial rennet. Always check the ingredient list, as it will list if it uses a vegetable rennet.

Can I use frozen puff pastry to make this tomato tart?

Yes! Any pie crust  or puff pastry work with this recipe. I use both Pepperidge Farm and Dufour's frozen puff pastry. I like them both, but prefer Dufour's. Whichever you use, be sure to follow the directions on the package for thawing and pre-baking before adding the mozzarella and tomatoes. 

 This is a great post on working with frozen puff pastry crust.

Tips For Making a Perfect Tomato Tart

• Since there aren't a lot of ingredients to this recipe, the quality of each ingredient needs to shine.
• The tomatoes should be ripe but firm. Pass up the soft ones for this recipe. They'll completely fall apart when baked.
• Drain the tomatoes. But if you're in a hurry, this isn't as critical as you might think. The mozzarella layer does a great job of protecting the crust from tomato juices.
• Slice the tomato slices ¼" thick when creating bite-sized pieces.
• Be sure to par-bake (pre-bake) the crust before add the filling.
• If you use your own pesto, it should have more oil than you normally use, so that it can be drizzled over the tomatoes and baked. The herbs will dry a bit during baking, making it easy to serve on small bite-sized pieces.
• Cool for 15 minutes before slicing, to allow the cheese to firm up a little. Use a sharp chef's knife to slice them.