This savory summer vegetable tart recipe is made with flaky pie crust and fresh herbs, sausage, and a variety of summer vegetables including yellow squash. It is the perfect dish to celebrate the bounty of vegetables in your garden!
As summer progresses, we start to have more and more fresh herbs and vegetables ready for harvesting. This tart recipe is one of my favorites because it’s so versatile for using whatever fresh produce you have on hand! I find that this is one of those recipes where the more colorful the veggies, the better! So if you have yellow squash, tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, and onions (or any seasonal vegetable) – then get going and make this tart! You won’t be disappointed!
Savory Summer Vegetable Tart Recipe
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Step 1. Prepare the Crust
I started by preheating my oven to 400 degrees. I then laid my pie crust in my tart pan and fluted the edges a bit to make it look pretty. Next, I popped it into the oven for 3 minutes. After that I took it out and pricked the bottom all over with a fork and popped it back in the oven for another 5 minutes.
Can I Use Store Bought Crust? Absolutely! Store-bought pie crusts are a good alternative to making a crust from scratch. If time is short or if you aren’t comfortable making your own dough, using store-bought dough is perfectly fine. You’ll need to prebake the crust for a few minutes and then prick it with a fork and continue prebaking for another few minutes before adding your fillings, the same as you would with homemade crust.
- Why Does the Crust Require Pre-Baking? Pre-baking is a must if you’re looking for a flaky pie crust. If a recipe calls for pre-baking, or blind baking, it means that the crust is likely to get soggy if you skip this step. Pre-baking is often done in quiche recipes, like this Savory Summer Herb and Vegetable Tart Recipe.
- Why do I Need to Prick the Crust? When you’re baking a pie crust with no filling, it tends to puff up and create an uneven surface. To help prevent this, use a fork to create tiny holes in the dough. This lets steam escape, so the crust doesn’t get too puffy or bubbly. Also called “docking” the pastry, piercing it helps keep your crust flat and even.
Step 2. Prepare the Filling
While the crust was prebaking, I prepared the filling by browning a half pound of roll sausage with the peppers and onions and draining the fat off after the sausage is browned.
To the sausage, onions and peppers I added my summer veggies – I used summer squash, zucchini, roma tomatoes, plus some freshly picked oregano, rosemary, and basil. You could also add eggplant, or other summer vegetables if you like. I sauteed all of these ingredients together for a few minutes.
I love that I have all of this growing fresh in the summer garden and all I have to do is walk outside and pick them!
Next I beat my eggs and added them to the sausage and veggie mixture along with the milk and cheese. I stirred it all together and poured into the prebaked crust. Lastly, I popped it into the oven for about 50 minutes until the top was browned and bubbly and the tart cooked through.
We hope you try this Savory Summer Vegetable Tart recipe and let us know what you think! All in all, this is a pretty easy recipe that is sure to wow your dinner guests. It will also fill up your kitchen with the tantalizing scent of fresh herbs as the tart bakes. This is a summertime treat that you won’t soon forget.
Savory Herb and Summer Vegetable Tart
Ingredients
FOR CRUST:
- 1 1/4 c. all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 c. plus 2 tablespoons shortening
- 3 to 4 tablespoons ice water
FOR PIE FILLING:
- 1/2 lb. Italian sausage
- 1/2 c. bell pepper chopped
- 1/2 c. diced onion
- 1 c. diced zucchini
- 1 c. diced tomato
- 1 c. diced summer squash
- 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
- 3 or 4 torn fresh basil leaves
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary needles
- 1 c. shredded mozzarella or shredded cheese of choice
- 3 eggs beaten
- 1/3 c. milk
Instructions
For Crust
- Combine flour and salt. Cut in shortening with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal.
- Sprinkle ice water, 1 T. at a time, evenly over surface.
- Stir with a fork until dry ingredients are moistened.
- Shape into a ball, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in fridge for at least 1 hour.
- Pre-heat oven to 400º.
- Roll dough to 1/8" thickness on a lightly floured surface.
- Place in tart dish/pie plate, and flute and trim excess pastry around edges.
- Pre-Bake crust for 3 minutes. Remove from oven, and gently prick sides and bottom of pastry with a fork. Bake for another 5 minutes.
For Filling
- Brown the Italian sausage with the chopped onion and peppers, drain the fat.
- Add to the pan the yellow squash, zucchini, and tomatoes, and the herbs. Sauté gently for a few minutes.
- Remove pan from heat and add the beaten eggs, cheese, and milk. Stir to mix thoroughly. Pour into pre-baked crust.
- Bake pie for 50 minutes, or until set. Allow pie to rest 10 minutes, before serving.
