Zucchini and Egg Tart With Fresh Herbs Recipe (2024)

Looks delicious, concept good, but really poor execution all around. Next time I will bake the pastry to make a tart shell. While the pastry bakes, sauté zucchini and peas with herbs and scallions till slightly browned. Then assemble tarts. First, coat pastry shells with creme fresh or marscapone. Next cover with vegetable mixture, creating a nest to hold the egg. Sprinkle with herbs, salt and pepper, Parmesan cheese, a drizzle of olive oil, bake filled tarts until eggs are firm but soft.

The puff pastry -- one whole package?! Or one sheet from a package? It feels impossible that a single tart requires 14oz of pastry...

You can cook the puff pastry and vegetables ahead of time, assemble and chill, then plop the eggs into their nooks just before baking. If you’d like, lose the mustard and crème fraîche and use mascarpone, garlicky Boursin cheese or even softened cream cheese instead. To serve a crowd, bypass the eggs; add some cooked asparagus, fennel or other seasonal vegetables; and drape with prosciutto or smoked salmon. Garnish with whatever herbs are kicking around in your crisper and fistfuls of barely dre

Hi Rick! I do totally get your point: Laying the vegetables out flat on the tart and topping the cooked tart with fried or poached eggs would be totally delightful (and EASY)! Here, parbaking the crust ensures it stays crisp. As for frying or poaching the egg, the texture would be totally different. Essentially the egg is coddled by the zucchini here, so it bakes into a wobbly custardy state, with texture that is even more delicate than a poached egg.

I love NY Times cooking recipes and always read the Cooking Notes before preparing a recipe. I print out each recipe that I prepare to use while cooking. But the notes do not print out with the recipe. How can I add the Cooking Notes when printing the recipes?

Hi Suzanne! The reason this bakes directly on an inverted baking sheet is mostly for efficiency: Instead of rolling out the dough on a work surface then transferring it to the baking sheet (and cleaning the work surface), you can simply roll it out directly on the baking sheet by flipping over the baking sheet to create a flat surface. It's a pretty common trick/tip from professional pastry kitchens in an effort to cut down on cleaning!

it's a bit of work, but well worth it for me - I find the comments quite useful and usually make changes as per other cook's suggestions.I open a blank Word document, then copy and paste whatever I want to remember for next time.Hope this helps.

Use pre-prepared mille feuille pastry instead of puff; make it in a sheet-pan and don't bother with the side pieces. Just drape the whole thing over the pan (as many layers as you fancy) and scrunch it up all around for a great artisanal look.

I suppose you could substitute a friend of yours who likes zucchini. j/k, I know that wasn't your question. Trick is to have a veggie that can build the "nests". Eggplant should work. Does he like yellow squash better than zukes? Maybe go carnivorous instead and use deli ham or roast beef?

Instead of creme fraiche, etc., use Boursin or marscapone or cream cheese. For a crowd fill with veggies, drape with prosciutto or smoked salmon. Top with barely dressed mache or arugula

Wonderful brunch/weekend supper that screams spring! I did half scallions/half leeks and added in some asparagus. I initially baked the puffed pastry for 15 minutes before adding on the veggies and eggs and then put it back in the oven for another 17 minutes--perfectly runny eggs!I used a vegetable peeler to make the zucchini slices and that worked well--just enough thickness to create wells for the eggs, while also allowing them to cook through. Adding this to the regular Spring rotation!

Baking the egg in the pastry seems tedious and likely to make your perfectly crisp shell soggy. Its not like baking the egg in the pasty is going to lend flavor to the shell or visa versa. Why not just fry/poach the egg separately and bring them together before you plate?

Hi Tricia! Good question! I decided to use the whole puff pastry here, because the toppings are fairly heavy and I wanted the puff pastry base to stand up to them. I worry that if you use only half the package, the puff pastry would be too delicate. It would be tricky to roll it out that thinly to the desired size, and then once the tart is assembled I'd worry the thinner base might absorb too much moisture and potentially fall apart.

750 calories for a complete dinner isn't unreasonable.

Marscapone is about 300 calories, sheep puff pastry about 1400 calories, each egg about 91,...add all the remaining ingredients, divide by four, 750 seems about right.

The directions for this recipe need improvement. For example, when rolling out the puff, how big should the puff be? More details on the scallions would be nice too. Despite needing better directions, this recipe was delicious!

Pre bake of puff pastry only 10 min. Mascarpone really didn’t spread easily. Egg yolks get too cooked before whites are cooked.Added prosciutto halfway thru bake.

Totally delish! Modified per the suggestions to sauté the veggies and use the vegetable peeler on the zucchini. Also used crumbled feta, which was an excellent substitution for the mascarpone/Dijon. Used lots of fresh dill and other herbs to finish. Also, I couldn’t get anything better than the Pepperidge Farm puff pastry, but that stuff makes a sturdy puff — don’t roll it beyond its size. With the frame dough, it fits four egg nests that will definitely impress your guests.

Excellent I also cooked the pastry right on the cookie sheet, didn't trim, just folded up edges & flattened a bit after baking. Makes sure to pierce with fork holes beforehand. Also substituted pan made caramelized onions for scallions.

Followed the instructions for baking the puff pastry, and it was pretty singed. I also baked it straight on the sheet rather than greasing or anything, like the indicate, but it stuck to the pan--next time I would use parchment paper.The best part of this was the marscapone/Dijon spread. It was a hearty dinner for two and I might make it again, with some changes to how I handle the puff pastry.

This was one of the worst recipes ever. Worst in terms of wasting my time. Was it edible? Yes. The photo was very appealing but don’t let that draw you in. It does not come together at all. It’s a waste of a lot of ingredients much better served on their own. And it’s time consuming. And do not ever put that much Dijon in crème fraiche in anything.

Sautée red onions, garlic and leeks, add the peas. Cook until tender. Meanwhile roast the zucchini’s in the oven and the crust. Then follow the recipe.

This was a miss for us, and I can’t quite say why. We made it exactly as specified and I found the zucchini to be much too large, even after cutting, the skin was still tough, the peas dried out, the eggs over cooked and there was a general lack of flavor! We’ll be finishing it but not something we would make again.

For the base I used ricotta and honey instead of mascarpone and I really liked it! Worked well and added moisture

In the end, it’s not any greater than the sum of its parts, and I think that’s all that matters. It’s pretty, but also took a fair amount of effort to get there.

I increased ingredients to make for 6 and added sliced cremini mushrooms. I used both pastry sheets, rolled one out rectangular in one sheet, rolled the other out a bit thinner to section off and build the frame, then cooked it ahead. I lightly browned the veggies and assembled it. Also, subbed a mix of sour cream and yogurt in the base sauce, stirred it up with home made za'atar. It is a spectacular brunch presentation with mixed fresh chopped herbs.

If you salt the zuccini you will have much less water in the finished tart.

Made this for Easter brunch and it was a winner. Next time on the final bake, I would take the tart out after 17 or 18 minutes for a runnier yolk. The peas were a bit dried out so likely need a bit more olive oil. The fresh herbs were an amazing addition and I used chive, tarragon, parsley and dill. Tarragon was especially delicious with the eggs.

Photo so beautiful. Will take the advice of other cooks in assembly, and looking forward to this gem on my table.

Two additions really brought this to the next level. First, dice 3 strips of bacon and bake with the zucchini. Scatter over the final tart for the last 20 min of baking. Second, add a half teaspoon each of powdered mustard and paprika to the dairy base. It was amazing!