Zucchini, tomato pesto & Parmesan tart

About thirteen years ago, I travelled to the USA with three of my dear friends Paul (he of the Famous Butternut Soup), Duncan and Adrian.  Most of my friends who had been to the USA had been to New York, Las Vegas or San Francisco, all home to a multitude of tourist attractions.  But not us.  Oh no, we went to... Wisconsin.

Nothing wrong with Wisconsin, the cheese state (in fact, it is exceedingly lovely in the summer!), but it's not exactly the numnber one destination for visitors is it?  Well, that may be true for most of the year, but for one week in August, the town of Oshkosh suddenly becomes the epicentre of the entire flying world as the annual Oshkosh EAA AirVenture takes place.  As my three friends are all professional pilots, it's not hard to guess how Oshkosh was chosen as a destination :)

The holiday was phenomenal - from our arrival in Chicago and a brief visit to Six Flags Great America in Waukeegan (where Paul tricked me onto a roller coaster and I had 30 seconds of insane, terror-induced Tourettes swearing); to the 5 days we spent at the EAA Airventure (looking for Wisconsin farm boys in dungarees or US Marines in tight T-shirts at Molly McGuire's!); to the final few days in New York City (where I missed the train back to the hotel and nearly the flight home). 

Paul had decided in advance that our little group should have a name and a website, and the name he came up with for us was "The Tarts".  The website featured a fetching photo of us, together with a caption which read:

tart, n.:

1)  a pastry shell with a sweet or savoury filling

2)  a woman of ill repute 

Of course, all those years ago before blogging, Facebook or Twitter, being on the 'Net was a great novelty and everyone who knew us went to take a look.  It didn't take more than a few days before Paul got a call from a concerned relative, who wanted to know "is your friend really a prostitute?".

Oh dear.

Since then, I can never make or order or even think of a tart without recalling my fleeting and fictional career as a "woman of ill repute." 

If you are feeling like a bit of a tart, the far less controversial way to give vent to those feelings is with this delicious zucchini and tomato pesto tart.

QUICK ZUCCHINI, TOMATO PESTO & PARMESAN TART (serves 4) Click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:

1 x 500g roll ready-made puff pastry
100g sun-dried tomato pesto
2 large zucchini, sliced into very thin rounds
Parmesan shavings (about 150g)
a handful of fresh basil leaves (and a few more to garnish)
a little milk (for brushing)

Method:

Bring the puff pastry to room temperature and pre-heat the oven to 220C. Roll the pastry out until it is roughly 35 x 25cm and place on a baking sheet.

Spread the pesto evenly all over the pastry, leaving a small edge on all sides.  Cover the pesto completely with a thin layer of shaved or grated Parmesan cheese.  Scatter some torn fresh basil leaves over the cheese, then top with the zucchini rounds, overlapping them slightly like shingles. Brush the exposed pastry border with a little milk 

Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry edges are puffy and golden.  Garnish with fresh basil leaves (optional) and serve with a fresh green salad.

You might also like my zucchini, tomato and feta pasta sauce, zucchini Peppadew and feta bread, or carpaccio of courgettes.  And in other news... please don't forget to go and check out my first ever guest post at fellow-South African foodie blog Add to Taste - I'm making Mexican potato salad!

Comments

[gastroanthropologist]

he he "The Tarts". I'm from the US, but my first trip to Wisconsin was just last year. Did you get up to Door County in Wisconsin? It's actually lovely with tons of sour cherry orchards, on the edge of the Lake, and probably the most friendly people I have ever met.

This is a perfect summer tart with the zucchini and sun dried tomato pesto, and perfect for London this weekend as it seems summer has finally arrived!

[nina]

Gorgeous tart you are too!!! Ooops, I was referring to the edible one....

Well done on the quest post...anytime you ready, by blog is awaiting too!!

[Sommer @ A Spicy Perspective]

Hilarious! Great story. This looks delicious and so perfect for all these garden veggies I need to use up!

[Jamie]

Oh hysterical! And why do you always get pinned with these reputations (though the bouts of Tourettes-type swearing cannot help!). Tart indeed! This trip sounds the riot and I can see you enjoying the silliness of it all. And I love this tart, it is just up our street and I'll definitely feed my men with it this summer. xo

[Herschelian]

Wow.. I thought I was the only one who'd ever heard of the great Oshkosh Air show (to me Oshkosh meant a brand name for toddler dungarees!). Last August a couple who are great friends of mine from Jozie went to it - he is fanatical about flying and has two or three vintage planes and was giving a seminar. Their son, my godson is a pilot with SAA. When they stopped off in the UK en route home, they told me all about it. They both found it wonderful, and were awed by the logistics of the whole event.

Jane said that she had found the whole experience fascinating, but the thing she had found difficult was the food. She said that every one of the restaurants there and in the town served HUGE portions, too big to eat it all and she felt (a) overwhelmed by the quantity and (b) guilty/angry when she thought about people back in SA/Africa who were desparate for food when America wasted food with such abandon. Obviously she's not an idiot and she knows there is no real co-relation between what is eaten/wasted in the USA and Africa's problems, but it did make her very uncomfortable. Her other gripe was that getting food that was not either deep-fried or smothered in sauces was well nigh impossible - and fresh plain vegetables/salads were practically non-existant.

I think she would have been really, really pleased to find a Zucchini Tart on the menu there.

[johanna]

love the story and love the recipe idea, what a perfect quick supper! I have tons of reently picked zucchini in my fridge, so this is just the ticket! all i need now is a night IN... next week I am out three nights and the following four, I'll be in Germany! looking forward to our dinner on Tue! xx

[Kalynskitchen]

I'm laughing because I've never been to Wisconsin. I know where you can stay if you ever come to Utah (my house!) The tart looks fantastic.

[Hila]

oo this looks perfect for meat free monday!

[katie]

Ah, yes... Oshkosh, b'gosh! I'm from Wisconsin..... not far from Oshkosh.
And I always smile when I make a tart - this one looks perfect - my zucchini are exploding. I also like the British usage of 'to tart something up' as in to redecorate - paint and clean, 'put on a new face'

[Marisa]

Bwhahahahahaha! I assume your repuation was shot for a few years to come! But why, pray tell, do we not get a link to this tarty site?

[Simply Life]

Oh this looks delicious!

[Rosa]

A fabulous tart! Ideal if you eat in the garden or go out for a picnic...

Cheers,

Rosa

[Magic of Spice]

What a gorgeous tart!

[Kevin (Closet Cooking)]

This tart sounds nice and quick and easy and yet so tasty!