French Courgette Tart

It seems I just cannot keep up with the courgettes (or zucchinis, if you prefer). Last year was a wet, miserable growing season and my harvest was pitiful. This year is the complete opposite. Yesterday alone I made two recipes to use up the glut, yet I still have seven courgettes sitting on the counter and plenty more growing in the garden.

Thankfully, this recipe for my French courgette tart has been a true winner. There was one occasion when I made it for friends and used Grana Padano instead of Parmesan. It was… fine, but not quite excellent. To be fair, we had been out very late the night before and tired minds do not always make the best cooking decisions. Since then I have refined the recipe into something that feels just right, and my kids absolutely love it. My son even told me, “Mom, I don’t like it… I LOVE it,” which is high praise from someone who used to refuse courgettes altogether. The fact that there are never any leftovers is another clear sign of success.

While I often use Parmesan, I realised it could be made a little more French by swapping it for Gruyère from Savoie. Not everyone will have access to that, so fresh grated Parmesan works beautifully too. Grana Padano can work in a pinch, though it is milder, and that one unfortunate time I forgot to add salt certainly did not help. Lesson learned.

I love having options. They make cooking more relaxed, help you grow as a cook, and save you from running to the shop for one missing ingredient.

Many of you have been asking for this recipe, and now that my yellow courgettes are ready, and the Romanescos’ are at their peak it’s go time! This tart is one of my new favourites for summer and is perfect served with a simple green salad and a glass of chilled white wine for an easy patio dinner or just as easily as a side alongside a bigger meal.

If you make this recipe, I would love to hear how it turns out. Leave a comment below and share it with a friend who might also enjoy it!

*** Creme fraîche is easy to make! Try this recipe and you’ll be set!***

French Courgette Tart

level up your courgette game with this delicious savoury tart

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Servings: 4

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: French

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 cloves garlic crushed
• 480 g courgettes (zucchini) finely sliced
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup crème fraîche *recipe available below!
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 70 g gruyère split into 50g + 20g (if you can't find gruyère use freshed grated parmesan)
• 1 sheet puff pastry

Method

 

1. Preheat the oven to 200C / 400F (fan)
2. In a large bowl mix together olive oil, salt and crushed garlic
3. Finely slice your courgettes into rounds and place into the infused oil and massage it in with your hands to get all the rounds covered. Set aside.
4. In a small bowl mix together mustard, crème fraîche, thyme and 50g of grated gruyère cheese
5. Pull your pull pastry out of the freezer and place it on a large baking sheet on top of a piece of parchment paper. Prick all over with a fork.
6. Spread the cheese mixture all over the surface of the puff pastry as close to the edges as you can get. It is very thick but you can do it!
7. Spread the courgettes on top, again as close to the edges as you can get and then sprinkle with the remaining 20g of cheese and a few turns of freshly ground pepper
8. Cook for 20 minutes until nice and golden.

Notes

If you don’t have crème fraîche available you can follow this recipe to make you own!