Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Tart

This vegetarian roasted red pepper and tomato tart is absolutely crave-worthy and brings a saucy pizza to mind with its savory, concentrated flavor and thick texture. A pinch of fennel seed evokes Italian sausage and sliced olives add a savory tang. Serve with cheese, crusty bread, and a green salad. You could also add some halloumi cheese or Italian sausage to the filling for a more complete meal.

The original recipe is from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, a massive cookbook with so many tasty recipes. It’s one of my favorite cookbooks, and I highly recommend it! This recipe appears in the original 1997 edition, though I noticed there’s a new version published in 2014 with even more recipes. Here, I’m sharing my simplified version of the recipe, using a premade pie shell, canned tomatoes, and a slight adjustment to the herbs.

Ingredient notes

You could simplify the recipe further using oil-packed roasted red peppers, but I find that the flavor is different from home-roasted peppers. Depending on the brand, the store-bought version can be more acidic and less sweet versus homemade. The tart is still delicious either way (I’ve tried both!), but if you have the time, I do recommend roasting the peppers yourself.  You can find complete instructions for roasting peppers here. A condensed version is given within the recipe below.

For the olives, I suggest using cured, fresh olives for the best flavor, such as the Greek olives you might find at a deli. Green or black is fine, whichever you prefer. Canned olives have a completely different flavor, which I don’t recommend, unless you happen to love canned olives. Personally, I have a strong preference in general for fresh olives, but to each their own!

A flaky pie crust is delightful for this recipe, whether it is a classic American pie crust or a puff pastry crust (the pâte feuilleté crust, popular here in France).

Make ahead

This roasted red pepper and tomato tart is a favorite in our household, so I always end up making a big batch of filling when red peppers are cheap and in season. Filled into mason jars, the filling freezes wonderfully for up to six months. To use, thaw and heat up the filling before pouring into a pie shell and baking according to the recipe.

Print Recipe

Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Tart

If pizza were a vegetarian summer tart, this would be it.

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr

Total Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American, Mediterranean

Keyword: roasted red peppers, summer tart

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 unbaked pie crust
• 2 medium red onions about 250 g, finely diced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 3 red bell peppers roasted and chopped, skins removed
• 400 g canned diced tomatoes no salt added
• 1 ½ tbsp tomato paste
• ⅛ tsp dried oregano leaves
• ½ tsp fennel seeds
• ¾ tsp salt
• Black pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp chopped basil
• 8 cured, fresh olives halved and pitted

Instructions

• If your peppers are not already roasted, start by roasting the peppers (see note). Chop into bite-size pieces once roasted and skins removed.
• In a large pot, heat 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add the finely diced red onions and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to avoid burning.
• Add the minced garlic, canned tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, fennel seeds, salt, and pepper. Add 2 tbsp water, which you may put first in the tomato can to help get out any remaining tomato.
• Cook for 30 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally to avoid burning, especially toward the end as the mix gets thicker. Add the chopped roasted peppers, basil and adjust salt if necessary. The olives can also be added to the stew at this point or they can be added on top in the next step.
• Fill the mixture into a prepared, uncooked pie crust. If not mixed in, arrange the olives on the top of the tart.
• Bake at 200 °C (390 °F) for 30 minutes, or until the edges of the crust are golden brown.

Notes

1. To roast the peppers: Rub a thin layer of oil on halved, seeded peppers. Bake at 220 °C (430 °F), convection mode, for 20-25 minutes on a rimmed baking sheet. Once cooked and the skins are blistering, remove from oven, and cover baking sheet with foil. After 10 minutes, remove skins. Chop into bite-size pieces.
2. If you want to add bulk sausage to the recipe, add at the same time as the red onions. Since the pork will give off fat, you may reduce the olive oil to about 1 tbsp.
3. If you want to add halloumi cheese, cut in to bite-size cubes and add at the same time as the basil.