Warm savory tomato onion tart made from crispy pastry sheets to be served as an appetizer or dinner gathering with a salad.
This fabulous flavorful tart can be made ahead and reheated at dinner time. With our playful schedules lately I favor dinners that are baked early in the day or the night before and can simply be reheated and served with a side salad within minutes. Because life is busy and there are more important things than fussing over a hard meal to make.
Four years ago changed my life. It was the end of my 20’s and time to embrace the next chapter of life: my 30’s as a parent. When I was chatting with my sister on the phone yesterday (who is married with no children) we talked about our plans for the upcoming weekend. I left the conversation laughing and thinking “oh, the carefree freedom” of a “go-with-the-flow” “no responsibility” day like I had when I was 20. She was partying late, sleeping in late, skiing all day, and afterwards laying in her hot tub to sooth sore muscles. My weekend, on the other hand is determined my the mood of my children. I “plan” to go to bed early, wake up early, do a blog post, make pancakes together, fold laundry, play at the park, go to the beach, go for a run. Some days our little ones have another plan. They stay up late, wake up early, do not want pancakes, throw the laundry just folded, do want to play at the park, and scream when it is time to go depleting every last bit of energy left to go for a run. And the best part about it all is that I wouldn’t change it for the world. I love that my babies need me. I love that life in my 30’s if different, busy, and sometimes hard to plan. This is a really big stretch for me as I am a huge planner (thanks mom!) in which I thrive on schedules, agenda books, color coordinated closets and an orderly home. My babies are just teaching me to live outside the box a bit. Are you with me? It is hard sometimes when life feels controlled by our children and their schedules, but that’s the beauty of family and working together. In our home we are a team and everything we do we strive for in a team effort. So our team cooks, bakes, chops and dips and eats together.
My 30’s and becoming a mom led me to cook more. To teach my children the importance of clean eating, what foods are important fuels for our bodies and how it can heal us when we are feeling run down. Cooking has become our team event and for me, the food on the table is something I can have control over with a plan.
One way that has helped our family eat healthy at dinner time is by having a monthly menu plan printed on the refrigerator. I have been really excited to talk about this with as I have been working on this project for months. A project of healthy meal ideas that can help you save time, save money and gain control with bringing healthy foods to the table that aren’t a big fuss to prepare. As moms our most important job is caring for and feeding our families and sometimes the ciaos in life takes control. I have developed a 31 Day Make Dinner Happen! Meal Plan. It consists of 31 dinners that take 30 minutes or less and are mostly gluten free and vegetarian. The bonus is that it comes with a shopping list and cost per meal to help your family save time and money and still eat incredibly healthy!
Chase mixed the onions over the stove until it became fragrant with hints of garlic. When it was time to layer our ingredients he was all about spreading purple onions around our fresh pastry shells. The boys and I made this early in the morning so we could (shoot photos) and have more afternoon time to play at the park before dinner. Our dinner menu told us to make pizza so we improvised with this new dish using our pizza ingredients. Make two batches and save any leftovers for a healthy lunch the next day!
Isn’t this gorgeous!?! Here are a few of my favorite fantastic side salad dishes to serve with your stunning tomato onion tart:
Winter Salad with Maple Candied Walnuts + Balsamic Fig Dressing from Half Baked Harvest
Healthy Pomegranate Salad from Delightful Mom Food
Arugula Salad from Epicurious
Pear, Arugula and Pancetta Salad from Epicurious
Greek Salad from Food Network
Blackberry, Bacon and Blue Cheese Salad from Lemon Tree Dwelling
What we loved about this dish is how light the pastry crust is. It is not heavy like pizza and its abundance of cheese. This healthy dinner is super flavorful from the combination of buttery crust and the sweetness of tomato paste followed by hints of tart cheese. My husband’s exact words were “this is really good! I wouldn’t have expected that- you need to blog this and make it again”! And both my littles love it too (getting a full serving of vegetables), which says a lot since Chase doesn’t normally favor onions.
And did you know that eating cooked tomatoes boosts its health benefits? Tomatoes are a good source of vitamin c and lypocene, the phytochemical that makes them red but also gives it antioxidant properties. Cooking tomatoes increases its lypocene levels but does reduce its levels vitamin c. So it is a good idea to incorporate a balance of cooked and raw tomatoes into your healthy diet.
I think you will be pleasantly pleased with the outcome!
- 1 sheet of frozen puff pastry (or can be substituted for gluten free pizza dough)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 red onions, peeled and sliced
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 4 plump ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- fresh rosemary
- fresh basil
- 2 ounces of fresh cheese such as feta, goat cheese or blue cheese
- balsamic reduction (optional)
- Salt and pepper
- Unroll 1 sheet of thawed frozen puff pastry. Fold over the edges to make a ½-inch border all around and poke the bottom around with a fork. Chill while you prepare the filling.
- Preheat the oven 400 degrees F. Place a baking sheet or Pizza Stone in the oven to heat up) this makes the bottom of the tart crispy when it cooks).
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium heat in a large frying pan. Add onions and cook about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Sprinkle with a dash of salt and pepper. Add garlic and cook another 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let it cool.
- Slice the tomatoes. Spread 2 tablespoons of tomato paste evenly over chilled puff pastry, but not over the edges. Sprinkle evenly with dry oregano. Add cooked onions to the top then tomato slices in rows.
- Bake 15-20 minutes until pastry crust is golden brown and the tomatoes are not watery. Drizzle with remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle cheese on top. Bake about 3-5 more minutes, Remove from oven and garnish with fresh basil and rosemary leaves and optional balsamic reduction.
xo,
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