Flaky, creamy, sweet, spicy, and very delicious – this super easy zucchini puff pastry tart is a GORGEOUS way to celebrate zucchini season. Rounds and ruffled ribbons are layered over creamy Boursin, baked until puffy and golden, then drizzled with sweet chili jam. Store-bought puff pastry keeps prep quick, making it perfect for picnics, parties, brunch, or a summery lunch.
Zucchini Puff Pastry Tart, at a Glance
⏰ Total Time: 45 minutes, with just 15 minutes of hands-on prep
🍽️ Makes: 8 large slices
🛒 Key Ingredients: Zucchini, puff pastry, Boursin cheese, sweet chili jam, parmesan
👩🍳 Skill-Level: Easy
🥗 Serve With: A lovely fresh salad – like this broccoli crunch salad – or as part of a larger sharing spread.
🥧 Perfect For: Picnics, weekend brunch, an easy light lunch, summer parties or a way to use up zucchini
Just a Lovely Way to Use Zucchini
There’s always a point in the year where I feel like I’m absolutely swimming in zucchini (or courgettes), and this lovely tart is a fab way to use them up.
I love how fancy it looks, but store-bought puff pastry and lovely Boursin do basically all the work. Thin zucchini rounds create the base, while the gorgeous ruffled ribbons pile on top and make it look really special. A drizzle of zingy sweet chili jam lifts everything, and it really is the most wonderful little slice of summer.
It makes a wonderful starter for entertaining – slice it into little squares – or it’s great as part of a brunch or picnic spread. Serve it hot, at room temperature, or cold!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Puff pastry. Store-bought puff pastry makes this super easy. Look for puff pastry that uses butter, rather than oil, for the best flavor.
- Zucchini (courgettes). To make things tidy, try to use medium-sized zucchini.
- Boursin cheese. This is a soft French cheese, flavored with garlic and herbs. It’s similar to cream cheese, but has more of a whipped texture. If you can’t find it, you can use cream cheese or drained ricotta, but I recommend mixing in 2 crushed garlic cloves and salt to make sure you’ve got enough flavor.
- Sweet chili jam. There’s not much a drizzle of this gorgeously sweet and spicy sauce doesn’t improve, and it really brings the tart together here. You could also use hot honey sauce, sweet chilli sauce or honey, mixed with 1 teaspoon of chilli flakes.
How to Make Your Zucchini Tart
This is a step-by-step photo overview of how to make the tart – the full recipe with ingredient quantities is at the bottom of the page for you.
- Slice half your zucchini thinly – I use a mandoline for ease, but if you don’t have one, use a knife. Mix the rounds with salt and leave to drain. Use a vegetable peeler to make thin ribbons with the remaining zucchini, and toss with olive oil.
- Unroll your puff pastry onto parchment paper and use a sharp knife to score a border. Mix your Boursin with black pepper and lemon zest, then spread over the pastry.
- Pat your zucchini rounds dry, then layer them onto the Boursin – don’t worry about being too neat and tidy, but try to place them reasonably evenly. Pile the zucchini ribbons evenly on top. Brush the edges of your pastry with egg wash and sprinkle with parmesan.
- Bake until the edges are gorgeously golden and puffy, and the zucchini are looking a little brown.
- Drizzle the sweet chili jam on top of the tart, then sprinkle with your herbs.
- Slice the tart and serve warm or at room temperature.
Zucchini Puff Pastry Tart FAQs
You can! This is great served cold or at room temperature, so it’s a lovely one to take along to picnics or barbecues.
It’s best the day it’s made as the pastry will be at its crispiest, but it’s still equally lovely for 2 days afterwards.
That said, I wouldn’t recommend assembling it too far in advance, as the pastry could go soggy. If you want to get ahead, slice and drain the zucchini ahead of time, mix the Boursin and store everything separately. Then just assemble and bake when you’re ready.
To maintain the crispy pastry, it’s best not to use the microwave here. That will make your pastry soggy. Instead, reheat in the oven at 375°F (180°C) for about 10 minutes until the pastry is nice and crispy.
This makes a lovely lunch, brunch or light dinner and can be served with lots of lovely things. Some kind of fresh salad is great – try it with this grilled broccoli crunch salad, rainbow chopped salad, Mediterranean bean salad or pesto potato salad.
The key is in the zucchini prep. It’s important to salt, drain, and pat dry the zucchini rounds so they don’t release all their moisture onto the pastry as it bakes.
You also want to try to keep the zucchini in an even layer on your pastry if possible. Bake sure your crust is deeply golden when you remove it from the oven too!
Like this tart? Try these savory baking ideas next
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! You can leave a recipe rating and a comment below. And remember to tag @DishedByKate on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok if you’ve made one of my recipes. Seeing your recreations really makes my day 😊.
Easy Zucchini Puff Pastry Tart with Boursin
Ingredients
Method
- Prepare your zucchini.Heat your oven to 425℉/220℃ (200℃ fan). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice roughly half your zucchini into thin rounds (I like to use a mandolin for ease). Use a vegetable peeler to peel the rest into long, thin ribbons, then toss them with ½ tablespoon of olive oil.Toss the zucchini rounds with 1 teaspoon of salt, and leave them in a colander to drain for about 15 minutes, while you prep the rest of the tart.
- Prepare the pastry.Place the cold puff pastry on the prepared baking sheet. Use a sharp knife to score a ½-inch border around the edge, being careful not to cut all the way through (this is your crust). Prick the center of the pastry with a fork a couple of times.
- Prepare the Boursin.In a small bowl, mix the Boursin with your lemon zest and a good grind of black pepper. You want to mix it so it's smooth and spreadable. Use the back of a spoon to spread it evenly over your puff pastry, inside the scored border.
- Arrange the zucchini on the pastry.Use kitchen towels to pat the zucchini rounds as dry as you can (this will help prevent any sogginess in the oven). Arrange them rustically over the Boursin – it doesn't need to be particularly tidy, but try to keep them on an even layer for consistent cooking. Toss the zucchini ribbons with ½ tablespoon of olive oil, then pile them on top of the rounds. Again, try to disperse them evenly.Brush the exposed pastry edges with the egg wash, then scatter the grated parmesan over the edges.
- Bake the tart.Transfer the zucchini tart to the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the border is deeply golden and puffy, the base is nice and crispy, and the zucchini is starting to brown.
- Garnish and serve.Remove from the oven, then drizzle with the sweet chilli jam. Finish with fresh mint leaves, then slice and serve.
