The Savory Ricotta and Zucchini Tart is an ideal recipe for the summer season distinguished by its lightness.
An easy preparation, accessible to everyone, even those less skilled in the kitchen, especially starting with ready-made puff pastry, which always guarantees a tasty and delicate result.
This Savory Ricotta and Zucchini Tart consists of a classic puff pastry disk filled with zucchini and their flowers cooked in a pan with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. The filling is enriched with ricotta, parmesan, and speck (or bacon) without overwhelming it. A light sprinkle of parmesan and then into the oven for about 30 minutes.
Serve as a main dish in generous portions or cut into squares as an accompaniment during an aperitif or a standing buffet, a classic of the long, hot summer evenings. And if you have leftovers, it is perfect to take to the beach or the office the next day.
Savory Ricotta and Zucchini Tart is one of those recipes that, like the savory ricotta and spinach tart, has become an evergreen on our tables, especially in summer when zucchini is at its seasonal peak.
Delicious in its simplicity, easy and quick to prepare, these are excellent reasons to try cooking it.
If you want to make this savory tart completely vegetarian, you can omit the speck and try flavoring the filling with a chopped marjoram or a few thyme leaves. In half an hour, you’ll get a light, tasty, and nutritious dish with guaranteed success even when time for cooking is scarce.
The savory tarts you can prepare with puff pastry bases are endless, my favorites are:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 6
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 365.63 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 12.43 (g) of which sugars 0.25 (g)
- Proteins 19.85 (g)
- Fat 27.02 (g) of which saturated 8.91 (g)of which unsaturated 11.36 (g)
- Fibers 1.03 (g)
- Sodium 702.88 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 1 sheet puff pastry (round)
- 14 oz baby zucchini (with flower)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- to taste salt
- 1 pinch black pepper (ground)
- 9 oz ricotta
- 2 eggs
- 5 oz (or bacon, cooked ham)
- 2 tablespoons grated parmesan
- 2 oz mozzarella (provola or scamorza)
- extra virgin olive oil (to drizzle)
- grated parmesan (to sprinkle on top)
Tools
- Bowl
- Pan
- Baking Dish
Steps
Take the zucchini, detach the flowers, clean them by removing the central pistil and the end part of the flower, cut the zucchini into slices.
Put 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a pan, heat it, then add the crushed garlic and sauté for a couple of minutes.
Add the zucchini and continue cooking for another 10 minutes over low heat until they soften but do not disintegrate. Adjust salt and pepper then add the zucchini flowers and cook for 1 minute.
In a bowl, pour the ricotta, eggs, diced speck, grated cheese and mix to obtain a homogeneous mixture.
Unroll the puff pastry directly into a mold and poke holes in the bottom with a fork. Pour the ricotta mixture into the mold.
Pour the zucchini with their flowers over the ricotta mixture, you can arrange them randomly or in a radial pattern to give the Tart a better look.
Scatter a few pieces of mozzarella cut into small pieces over the surface, sprinkle with grated parmesan, drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil, and bake at 356°F, static oven, for about 30 minutes.
The surface of the tart should be golden and the puff pastry risen. Remove from the oven and let it cool slightly before serving.
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NOTES
ZUCCHINI The amount of zucchini, including their flowers, used in this recipe is about 14 oz. It’s important not to cook the zucchini in the pan for too long because, having a second cooking, they might disintegrate.
PUFF PASTRY BASE You can make this savory tart even more rustic by using whole wheat pastry; if you don’t like puff pastry, you can substitute it with a savory shortcrust base.
RICOTTA To avoid the “soggy bottom” effect of the savory tart, I recommend draining both ricotta and mozzarella before using them to remove excess liquid.
MOZZARELLA Instead of mozzarella, you can use scamorza, either sweet or smoked, which goes well with speck.
SPECK In the preparation of this recipe, I used speck, but you can replace it with various other types of cured meats like bacon, diced cooked ham, or sausage. For a completely vegetarian version, you can omit it without compromising the result.
VARIATIONS You can enrich and make this Savory Ricotta and Zucchini Tart more colorful by adding other vegetables like carrots or cherry tomatoes, which you can toss in the pan along with the zucchini.
STORAGE
The Savory Ricotta and Zucchini Tart can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 days. You can also freeze it divided into single-serving slices. Once defrosted, just heat it up for a few minutes in the oven.
