This flaky French Tomato Tart recipe is one of our favourite savoury pastries to bake in the summer.
Our easy homemade French Tomato Tart recipe is prepared with buttery pastry dough, filled with boursin and gruyere cheese, and topped with sliced tomatoes, roasted garlic cloves and chopped chives.
The traditional French tart recipe features simple and affordable ingredients like flour, butter, salt, boursin, gruyere, tomatoes, roasted garlic and chives.
This decadent French tart is vegetarian and best served as a slice with a fresh salad, soup and cheese board.
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What Is A French Tomato Tart?
Rustic Tomato Tarts are considered a summer staple in the French countryside when the juicy red fruit is in its peak plucking season.
The best French Tomato Tart is prepared with a decadent buttery and flaky pastry. We like to use heirloom tomatoes in a variety of colours to give the tart an eye-catching rainbow effect.
We infuse other French flavours into the recipe by using Gruyere cheese (produced in a French speaking region of Switzerland), creamy Boursin cream cheese, soft roast garlic cloves and chopped chives.
Travel to France by Baking a Flaky Tomato Tart at Home
I love traveling to Europe!
During my first visit to the continent I traveled for 5 months by train and plane. I had the opportunity to eat my way through Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia,Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Croatia, Bosnia, Hungary, Slovakia, Greece, Turkey and Italy.
What I love most about traveling to France is the opportunity to sample unique recipes from each region. The dishes and pastries in Paris and Versailles are unique to what you might find on restaurant or bakery in Normandy, Chateauneuf de Pape, Provence, Epernay, Reims, Dijon and Annecy.
For hundreds of years French cuisine has been considered the fanciest of foods. If you’re a pastry fan, there’s no better country in Europe to eat your way through. You can eat your way through flaky croissants in Paris, cherry clafoutis in the South of France and apple and pear adorned tartlets in Normandy.
Once back home from a French holiday you’ll have a newfound appreciation for the regional and seasonal flavours of France and can impress friends and family by baking this Summer Tomato Tart at home.
Visit Cheese Farms in Gruyere
My favourite trip to Switzerland was a French themed adventure that took me from Geneva to Gruyere. The itinerary ended in the small town of Gruyere, famous for producing Gruyere cheese.
There’s also the haunting HR Giger Museum, which is dedicated to the creative genius behind Aliens. It’s one of the most magical holiday destinations for lovers of film and cheese!
If you’re a Gruyere cheese fan I highly recommend planning a weekend getaway to Gruyere in Switzerland. You can stay at an agriturismo on a family-run cheese farm. Guests also have an opportunity to visit a fun Gruyere Cheese Museum and dine at famous Swiss Fondue restaurants.
Gruyere cheese is one of the main components of our French Tomato Tart recipe. It’s always fun to meet the makers of the food we love on holiday!
Where To Eat A Savoury French Tart
If you live in a large city in Canada or America you’ll likely have access to a local French bakery, cafe or restaurant that serves delicious French Tomato Tart.
The Savoury French Tart is particularly popular during the summer season when tomatoes are ripe on the vine.
In Toronto you may find Flaky Tomato Tarts at French restaurants, bakeries and pastry shops such as Maison Selby, La Palette, La Societe French Bistro, Le Select Bistro, Cafe Boulud at Four Seasons Hotel, Aloette, Auberge du Pommier, Cluny Bistro, Cafe Cancan, Coffee Oysters Champagne, Chabrol, Nadege, and Bonjour Brioche.
My Family Loves French Pastry
My family loves baking during the summer.
Since I was a little kid I’ve rolled up my sleeves with my mom to make homemade ice cream, muffins, cake, pie, bread, cookies and bars.
Pie pastry is one of the hardest recipes to master as it requires know-how in handling, temperatures and the ideal distribution of cold fat within the dough.
Last August when Ontario tomatoes were in peak season I visited our local farmers market to find colourful heirloom beefsteak tomatoes.
I returned home and tasked my mother at making a buttery and flaky pie dough, which we rolled out as you would a rustic galette.
We slathered the centre of the pastry with soft garlic boursin cheese then sprinkled it with shredded gruyere cheese.
I had purchased 3 colours of heirloom tomatoes; classic red, yellow and a purple brown shade. We sliced the tomatoes and lined them up by colour into 3 distinct rows.
I had a jar of air fryer roasted garlic in the fridge so topped the tart with pungent cloves before plucking some fresh chives from the garden and chopping them on top.
After baking the tart in the oven we let it cool for 10 minute then sliced it and served with a fresh salad.
Health Benefits
Our French Tomato Tart recipe is packed full of healthy ingredients!
Rich in a group of phytochemicals called carotenoids, tomatoes may help reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, and provide protection against cancer. Tomatoes are also a good source of immune-boosting vitamin C.
It is only recently that scientists have begun to identify the components responsible for garlic’s myriad health benefits. Rich in phytochemicals and potassium, garlic helps boost your immune system, fight cancer and protect your heart.
Chives are a humble vegetable packed with vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. Regular consumption of onions can help boost digestive health and reduce the risk of developing heart disease.
Consuming dairy products (such as milk and cheese) provides health benefits — especially improved bone health. Dairy foods provide nutrients that are vital for health and maintenance of your body. These nutrients include calcium, potassium, vitamin D, and protein.
Wheat flour is rich in vitamins B-1, B-3, and B-5, along with riboflavin and folate. It also has more iron, calcium, protein, and other nutrients than white flour.
French Tomato Tart Recipe Baking Tips
Summer Tomato Tarts are fun to make at home. We’ve included a few tips for first time French pastry bakers!
- Feel free to prepare the pastry dough in advance and store it in the fridge or freezer until you’re ready to bake.
- Be sure to use cold butter and ice cold water when preparing your pastry dough. Avoid over mixing to ensure a flaky tart. I like to use a food processor when preparing pastry dough to avoid warming the butter with my hands.
- If you are hesitant to make pastry dough from scratch feel free to purchase puff pastry and use it instead.
- We’ve used Garlic Boursin, a soft French cream cheese brand that offers several different flavours. Feel free to substitute for other flavours like peppercorn or shallot & chive or red chili pepper.
- We’ve used Gruyere cheese in this recipe but you can substitue for other French-style cheeses like Raclette, Brie, Vache Maigre, Morbier, Saint Paulin, Le Riopelle de I’Isle, Tomme de Grosse-Ile, Beaufort, Camembert, and Mimolette.
- We’ve used different coloured heirloom tomatoes in this recipe to give the tart a rainbow effect. You can prepare this recipe with any kind of tomato, from tiny grape or cherry tomatoes, to larger roma plum tomatoes.
- Other French flavourings you may want to add to your tart include Dijon mustard, Herbs de Provence, caramelized shallots, capers and olives.
What To Serve with A Tomato Tart
We love serving this French Tomato Tart on a hot summer day at brunch, lunch or dinner.
Since tomatoes are always available this recipe can be enjoyed year round. It’s a particularly nice addition to a Mother’s Day or Easter family meal.
This French Tomato Tart recipe is very versatile and can be enjoyed during any meal of the day. Serve a slice at breakfast or brunch with scrambled eggs and crispy bacon. At lunch we love to serve this tart with fresh salads or soup.
If you’re hosting a French-themed dinner party serve this Tomato Tart with some of our other favourite dishes such as Fresh Fig Frangipane Pistachio Tartlets, Brandy Caramelized Onion French Burger, Vegetarian French Onion Soup, Creamy Apple and Pear Pork Normandy, Brandy Manhattan Cognac Cocktail and Raspberry Gin Fizz Chambord Cocktail.
You May Also Enjoy These Pie and Tart Recipes…
- Festive Fresh Fig Frangipane Pistachio Tartlets
- Homemade Flaky Swedish Rhubarb Cherry Pie
- Best Gluten Free Pie: Creamy Lemon Angel Pie
- Old School Cheese and Onion Pie
- Homemade Savoury Pickle Pie
- Cranberry Rhubarb Meringue Pie
Best Cheesy French Tomato Tart Recipe
French Tomato Tart
Ingredients
French Pastry Dough
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 cup Cold Butter cubed
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt
- 1/3 cup Cold Water
Tomato Tart
- 150 g Garlic Boursin
- 1 cup Gruyere Cheese grated
- 3-4 Tomatoes cored, sliced, cut into 1/4 inch rounds
- 8 Roasted Garlic Cloves
- 1 tsp Fresh Chives
Instructions
French Pastry
- Place the flour, butter and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Blend until the ingredients are incorporated but you can still see pea-sized bits of butter.
- When the processor is running, drizzle in the water, watching as the dough comes together and starts to form a ball, about 30 seconds. If the dough is too dry, add more cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough sticks when pinched and is pulling away from the bowl. If it seems too sticky, add more flour, 2 teaspoons at a time.
- Remove the dough from the bowl, wrap in plastic wrap, and press lightly into a disk. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using. At this point, the dough can be frozen for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw in the fridge overnight before using.
Tomato Tart
- Heat oven to 400 F. Line a large rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to 1/8 inch thick. You should have a rectangle measuring 9 x 12 inches. Rough edges are fine for a rustic look. Roll it carefully onto a rolling pin and unroll onto a prepared sheet pan. Using a fork, poke holes all over the pastry surface so it doesn't puff up.
- Spread the Boursin Cheese over the pastry shell, leaving a 1-inch border around the edges, then sprinkle the cheese evenly over top. Lay tomato rounds over the cheese layer. Top with roasted garlic cloves. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with fresh chives.
- Bake until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is brown, 25-35 minutes.
- Let rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.
Nutrition
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