Lately, I have just been wanting to make a vegetable tart with puff pastry. Virtually every recipe by every Italian chef I've been watching ('tis the season) has been cooking with zucchini. I, unfortunately, have had zero zucchini come up since the bunnies in my garden keep eating the flowers. My other obstacle is that I have been on this kick to make every single ingredient from scratch. If you've ever tried (or watched a video on) making puff pastry, you know its far from easy. So, I folded and bought puff pastry and organic zucchini.
This recipe has rough measurements for some ingredients. Some of the estimating needs to come from your own sight, smell, and taste. As Vertamae Smart-Grosevenor said, "I cook by vibration. I can tell by the look and smell of it."
Ingredients:
1 package of puff pastry
Fat (oil, butter, ghee)
1 zucchini
Tomatoes (around 10 grape and cherry tomatoes, three fresh tomatoes, or a blended variety)
Herbs
Salt
2 cloves of Garlic, minced or 3 garlic ramps, cut into 1/4" or smaller pieces
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup cubed mozzarella cheese
15 oz Ricotta Cheese
Directions
Thaw puff pastry (this can take several hours in the fridge)
Pre-heat oven to 400F/200C degrees
Grease a lasagna pan
Flour a surface and roll out puff pastry (not too thin - a little bigger than the pan you will cook with)
Carefully place puff pastry in the pan, spreading out to cover the entire surface
Using a fork, prick the pastry. (I also score the sides.)
Blind bake for 10-15 minutes until it starts to brown a bit on the edges
Cut off ends of zucchini and cut in half. Cut thin strips. (I usually leave the skin on.)
Remove ends of tomatoes. For cherry and grape tomatoes, cut in half. For larger tomatoes, cut slices. Salt them and let them sit. (The salt will not only enrich the flavor, but will draw the liquid out so they are not too watery.)
Select a variety of herbs and chop into small pieces (or break into small pieces by hand). I used rosemary and two different varieties of basil.
Saute in the fat of your choice garlic. When almost done, add herbs and cook on low heat for approximately one minute.
Let cool.
In a mixing bowl, add ricotta, mozzarella and shredded parmesan. Add two tablespoons of kosher salt.
Fold sauteed garlic and herbs into cheese mixture.
When puff pastry is ready, spread cheese mixture onto puff pastry. Don't make it too thick or your pastry will get soggy.
Add a layer of zucchini.
Decorate with the tomatoes.
Optional: Sprinkle additional herbs on top.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Let cool for at least another 20 minutes before cutting into it.
Bon appetit!