We recently took a day trip to an organic farm north off the 101 and I somehow went tomato and zucchini happy. I came home with bags full of both of them. I have been making and freezing homemade tomato sauce and creating baked goods filled with zucchini, but I still had leftover vegetables. My husband is not a fan of sauteed or steamed zucchini (does not like the texture) so I was thrilled when I came across a few tomato zucchini tart recipes that would mask the texture with other textures! And how cute to also make mini pies and served as appetizers?
Adding goat cheese, using light mayonnaise and cutting back on the butter in the pie crust makes this a healthier lower fat version of your typical pie crusts. This is simple to whip up and is quite a savory meal!
(Influenced and instructions from Better Homes and Gardens Magazine)
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour (I used white spelt)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1½ tsp ground black pepper, divided
- ¼ cup soft butter
- 2-3 tablespoons water
- 2 large eggs, separated from yolk from whites
- 1 zucchini, thinly sliced
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise (I used low fat)
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup goat cheese
- ½ tsp salt
- 3 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
- 5 tomatoes, sliced
- Extra basil for garnish
- Combine flour, butter, salt, 1 egg yolk, 2 tablespoons of water and 1 tsp pepper in a mixer. Mix on low until dough sticks together when pressed. Add 1 more tablespoon of water if needed. Press dough into a 9-inch square or round pie or tart pan. Pierce dough all over with a fork. Brush with 1 egg yolk. Set in freezer 5 minutes. If making mini pies, spray small muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray and press dough into each muffin space. Pierce bottom with fork, brush with egg and freeze 5 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Pour egg whites onto bottom of pie crust and bake crust 15 minutes. Set aside.
- Microwave zucchini 4 minutes or until tender. Drain extra water on paper towels.
- In a separate bowl, combine remaining ½ tsp pepper, ½ tsp salt, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, goat cheese and chopped basil. Layer your pie with zucchini, tomatoes, mayonnaise mixture.
- Bake 25 minutes for large pie and 18-20 minutes for mini pies, or until filling is hot and bubble and crust is golden.
Hi, this recipe looks so good. I love zucchini and this looks like something my family would love. I saw it on today's creative blog link party.
Julie from julieslifestyle.blogspot.com