Savory zucchini & ricotta tart with tomato-basil sauce

This savory zucchini & ricotta tart is a tasty and attractive way to serve zucchini. But then, I love almost anything in a pie crust. 😉 In this recipe, a flaky pie crust holds three flavorful layers: ricotta-parmesan, a thick tomato-basil sauce, and finally thinly-sliced zucchini. Serve this summery tart as a vegetarian main or along with some meat.

Tips for a tasty zucchini & ricotta tart:

• Avoid a juicy tart: The most important tip is to make sure the tomato sauce has cooked down enough. The sauce should have a thick consistency. If the sauce is too thin, the tart will be limp and juicy.  I use tomato sauce + a bit of tomato paste (purée) to speed things along.
• Tomato sauce: Choose a tomato sauce with as few added ingredients as possible to let the ingredients that you add shine through. You’ll also want to taste for salt since different brands have different amounts of added salt. If you choose to use passata, you’ll want to add about 3 oz/100 g more passata to the pan and let the mixture cook down for longer.
• Zucchini: Zucchini has a very high water content (around 96.5%), and we don’t want that water making our tart too soggy. Fortunately, the zucchini is thin-sliced and in a single layer on the top of the tart, so the oven does a lot of the drying for us. Still, salting the zucchini while the tomato sauce cooks helps take out even more moisture through osmotic pressure.
• Metal pie tin: For a crispier bottom crust, a metal pie tin works great. Unless your crust is thicker than normal, there’s no need to blind bake the crust.

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If this zucchini & ricotta tart sounds good to you, you might also enjoy my roasted red pepper & tomato tart or my authentic French quiche Lorraine.

Print Recipe

Zucchini & Ricotta Tart

A flavorful summery tart featuring ricotta, a tomato-basil sauce, and fresh zucchini

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time40 minutes mins

Total Time55 minutes mins

Course: Dinner, Side Dish

Cuisine: American, Italian

Keyword: ricotta, tomato sauce, zucchini

Servings: 4 as a side

Ingredients

Zucchini layer:

• 1 zucchini about 330 g/12 oz
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• ½ tsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp capers drained

Tomato layer:

• 200 ml (6.7 oz) plain tomato sauce (see note 1)
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• ½ tsp dried minced onion
• 1 clove garlic minced
• ½ tsp salt more or less depending on salt in tomato sauce
• ¼ tsp ground pepper
• 1 ½ tsp freeze-dried basil or 1 tbsp chopped fresh basil (see note 2)

Ricotta layer:

• 250 g (8.8 oz) ricotta
• 1 egg
• 26 g (¼ cup) grated Parmesan
• ¼ tsp salt

Crust:

• 1 pie crust puff pastry crust or American-style flaky crust

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 190 °C (375 °F), convection mode.
• Prep zucchini layer: Thinly slice the zucchini. Mix with salt, and let stand about 15 minutes while you prepare the rest. Pat dry, then add the rest of the “zucchini layer” ingredients.
• Cook tomato sauce: In a small pot over medium heat, mix all of the tomato layer ingredients, except for the basil. Add salt to taste, since different brands of tomato sauce have different salt contents. Simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce should be thick but pourable when it is ready. Off heat and add chopped basil.
• Mix the ricotta layer: Mix all of the ricotta layer ingredients in a small bowl.
• Assemble: Place the pie crust in a metal pie tin, optionally with parchment paper under the crust. Crimp the crust edges. Spread the ricotta layer over the bottom of the pie crust. Spread the tomato sauce over the ricotta. Finally, arrange the zucchini slices in a single layer on top. Leave behind any liquid in the zucchini mixture bowl. Sprinkle any left-behind capers over the zucchini.
• Bake the tart for 25 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.

Notes

1. Most tomato sauces have added ingredients for flavor. If you can find a (mostly) plain tomato sauce, that is ideal for letting the other ingredients that you add shine through.
2. Higher quality dried basil is sometimes freeze-dried, which keeps more flavor in the basil. You can identify this basil by its lighter, fresher green color versus classic dried basil. Classic dried will work, too.