Easy 5 ingredient pesto tomato tart

If you’ve been reading the blog for a while, you might think that this pesto tomato tart recipe sounds very ‘me’. It’s easy, it’s cheesy, and it uses nice, straightforward ingredients. But actually, this recipe was written by a lovely lady called Isabella, who wrote the blog Coriander Queen. Izzie passed away a few weeks ago at the age of 29.

As I’ve mentioned before, the food blogging community is a close one. Despite living all around the country (and even the world!), we food bloggers keep in touch with each other on a daily basis, we meet up in person regularly, and we try to support each other whenever we can – so we’re definitely feeling the loss of Izzie. She was warm and kind, and never seemed to let her illness bring her down. She was also passionate about food and blogging.

As a community, we thought we’d all pull together today to remember Isabella in the only way we know how – by cooking! We’ve each chosen a recipe from Izzie’s blog to share today, and I went for this easy pesto tomato tart. I’ve copied out my own version of the recipe below, since Izzie’s blog has now been taken offline.

As you’ll see from the title of this recipe, this pesto tomato tart only needs 5 simple ingredients – plus a little fresh basil for garnishing, if you’re feeling fancy. I actually nearly skipped the basil garnish, because the supermarket didn’t have the kind I usually buy – but when I saw what they were selling instead, I knew I had to get some.

Isabella basil. I’m not sure whether I believe in fate, but if it exists, I imagine this is it.

I can’t drink wine at the moment, but if I could, I would have served a big glass of white alongside this pesto tomato tart, and raised it up high in a toast to Izzie. I hope you’re resting in peace.

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4.86 from 7 votes

Easy 5 ingredient pesto tomato tart

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 15 mins

Total Time: 25 mins

Servings: 4 tarts

Ingredients

• ~ 8 pieces sun-dried tomato
• 200 g puff pastry (enough for 4 rectangles measuring ~ 6 x 5 inches)
• 4 tsp basil pesto
• 1 ball fresh mozzarella cheese
• Black pepper
• 2 tbsp pine nuts
• Fresh basil, to garnish (optional)

Instructions

• Heat the oven to 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F).
• If your sun-dried tomatoes are packed in oil, lay them on a piece of kitchen paper for a few minutes to drain any excess oil.
• Roll out the puff pastry, and cut into 4 rectangles. Score a line around each rectangle, about 1cm in from the edge, to form a border (don’t cut all the way through the pastry). Prick the centre of each rectangle a few times with a fork.
• Spread each pastry rectangle with a little basil pesto. Roughly chop the sun-dried tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, and scatter over the pastry. Add a little black pepper, then bake for around 15-20 minutes, until the pastry is crispy and the cheese is golden brown.
• While the tarts are baking, add the pine nuts to a dry frying pan, and toast over a medium heat for a few minutes, stirring regularly, until golden brown.
• Serve the pesto tomato tarts with the toasted pine nuts and some fresh basil, if desired.

Author: Becca Heyes

Note: Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose. Information above is for 1 tart.