The magical combination of fresh garden tomatoes, basil, and Fontina cheese shines in this Fresh Tomato Tart!

A slice of this Tomato Tart Recipe just reinforced that this marriage of flavors was a winner!

Fresh Tomato Tart on a white serving plate

Why You Must Make this Tomato Tart

  • There’s something magical that happens when cheese, basil, and juicy, ripe tomatoes are combined. The flavor profile is a twist on the Caprese salad, a classic Italian dish that’s stood the test of time.
  • This Caprese inspired tart is perfect when tomato season is at its peak.
  • With protein from the Fontina cheese, a slice or two of this tart makes a lovely lunch or light dinner.

Overhead view of a Fresh Tomato Tart on a serving plate garnished with herbs

How to Make a Caprese Tart

    1. Make the crust, roll it out and fit into a tart pan. Chill.
    2. Sprinkle cheese over the bottom of the crust, then top with basil. Cover with tomato slices, fitting to fill as much surface area as possible.
    3. Sprinkle tomatoes with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.
    4. Bake 20 to 30 minutes on a cookie sheet until the crust is golden and cheese is bubbly, remove.
    5. Garnish with fresh basil, slice, and serve warm.

Tips for Making This Fresh Tomato Tart

This is one recipe that must be made in the summer when the BEST tomatoes are available. Nothing beats a vine-ripened tomato that you pick from your own garden, but not everyone has that option. Your local farmers’ market, produce stand, or heirloom tomatoes from the market are some terrific options.

  • Use the highest quality, most flavorful summer tomatoes you can find. Making this in the off-season is not recommended.
  • Different sizes and colors of tomatoes make for a beautiful presentation, but it’s just as delicious with all red tomato slices.
  • A homemade tart crust always trumps store-bought, but in a pinch, feel free to buy a sheet of pastry from the market and pre-bake it in your tart pan according to package directions.
  • PRO-Tip: Sprinkling grated cheese over the bottom of the crust before baking minimizes the chance of a soggy crust. Plus it tastes great!

Slice of Fresh Tomato Tart on a small white plate with a red handled fork

More Tomato Recipes You’ll Love:

This Heirloom Tomato Tart was first shared in June 2012 and the photos and text were updated in 2020.

Fresh Tomato Tart - The marriage of summer tomatoes, basil and mozzarella makes for a fabulous dish!

Fresh Tomato Tart

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Yield 6 servings

A savory summer tart with fresh tomatoes, pesto, and cheese.

Ingredients

Crust:

  • 1 ¼ cups flour
  • 6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small cubes
  • 2 tablespoons shortening, cut into 4 pieces
  • 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2-4 tablespoons ice water (2 was enough for my crust)

Filling:

  • 4 slices of Provolone cheese
  • 8+ounces of fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
  • ¼+ cup pesto
  • ¾+pounds fresh heirloom or garden tomatoes, cut into ⅓-inch slices
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions

  1. In a food processor, combine flour, Parmesan, and salt. Pulse in butter and shortening till the mixture resembles cornmeal.
  2. Drizzle in 2 tablespoons of ice water while pulsing till incorporated.
  3. Squeeze a handful of dough, and if it doesn't hold together, add one more tablespoon of water and repeat with one more tablespoon only if needed.
  4. Form dough into a flat disk, wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate for about an hour.
  5. Preheat oven to 375º. Roll dough into a 12-inch round and fit into a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Trim edges.
  6. Line the shell with parchment paper and pie weights. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove paper and weights and bake for another 10 minutes or till lightly browned.
  7. Remove from the oven and line the bottom of the tart with a single layer of Provolone. Cool.
  8. Remove the sides of the tart pan and place the tart on a serving plate. Arrange half the mozzarella on the bottom of the tart, followed by half the pesto, then half the tomatoes.
  9. Sprinkled with salt and pepper and repeat. Feel to use the smaller amount of ingredients and only make one layer of pesto and tomatoes.

Notes

Recipe adapted from Gourmet.

The Gourmet recipe calls for repeating the pesto and tomatoes to make 3 layers. I've made it with two layers and most recently with one layer. Feel free to adjust your ingredients depending on how many layers you can fit in your tart shell.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1 slice

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 536Total Fat: 44gSaturated Fat: 17gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 24gCholesterol: 60mgSodium: 662mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 14g

Thatskinnychickcanbake.com occasionally offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although thatskinnychickcanbake.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased can change the nutritional information in any given recipe. Also, many recipes on thatskinnychickcanbake.com recommend toppings, which may or may not be listed as optional and nutritional information for these added toppings is not listed. Other factors may change the nutritional information such as when the salt amount is listed “to taste,” it is not calculated into the recipe as the amount will vary. Also, different online calculators can provide different results. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information obtained is accurate.

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Tomato Love

This is my contribution to the month-long #Tomato Love event. Feel free to link up any tomato recipes you’ve made in July of 2012. Just make sure to link back to this page, so your readers can join in as well. Thanks to Junia, of Mis Pensamientos, for organizing us again this month. I know you’ll all gain much inspiration from all the marvelous recipes which will be shared. Here is a list of the blogs of my talented and creative co-hosts:

Cheap Ethnic Eatz
Mis Pensamientos
Oh Cake
Pippi’s In the Kitchen Again
Rico sin Azúcar
That Skinny Chick Can Bake!!!
Vegan Yack Attack
You Made That?
Vegetarian Mamma

 

Fresh tomato tart on a white plate
Photo Circa 2012