This decadent vegan tomato tart is made with a flaky puff pastry crust slathered in herbed cashew cheese and topped with juicy roasted tomato slices. It's absolutely delicious and surprisingly easy to make!
As a Pennsylvanian, I take my tomatoes pretty seriously. I spent some time living in a part of the country where tomatoes aren't that great, and let me tell you, these days I really appreciate my east coast summer tomatoes!
I didn't have it in me to put together my usual summer vegetable garden this year. It's just been that kind of year! I'm sure you guys get it. But I got to craving some really good tomatoes recently, so I took a trip to the farmer's market to pick up a few. This tart was perfect for them!
It's my new favorite way to use summer tomatoes, perhaps even beating out tomato sandwiches and vegan BLTs.
What You'll Need
You don't need much to make this one!
- Fresh tomatoes
- Salt & pepper
- Frozen puff pastry
- Raw cashews
- Water
- Lemon juice
- Garlic
- Fresh basil
- Fresh thyme
How to Make a Tomato Tart
First, slice and salt your tomatoes. To do this, arrange the slices on a paper towel-lined baking sheet and sprinkle them with some salt. Let them sit for about 30 minutes. Salting your tomatoes will enhance the flavor and draw out some of the water, so they don't get soggy when you bake the tart.
While the tomatoes sit, prepare your crust. Remember to take your puff pastry out of the freezer a couple hours before you get started, so it has time to thaw.
Roll the pastry out into a large rectangle and press it into a baking sheet. Super important step: poke holes throughout the crust with a fork! This will keep your crust from turning into one big bubble when you bake it.
Pop the crust into the oven and set the timer for 15 minutes. Keep an eye on it — even with those holes you poked, it can still puff up a bit too much. If you see it starting to do this, just open the oven, poke it a few more times with the fork, and gently press down to flatten out the bubble.
While the crust bakes, make the cashew cheese. Place some soaked raw cashews into a food processor bowl, along with some lemon juice, garlic, salt and water. Blend until smooth, then add in basil and thyme. Pulse the food processor a few times to chop the herbs.
After the crust has baked for 15 minutes, remove it from the oven and slather the top with your cashew cheese. Blot your tomato slices with a paper towel and arrange them over the cheese.
Pop the tart back into the oven to bake for another 10 to 15 minutes.
When the tart has finished baking, sprinkle the tomatoes with some black pepper. If you have any leftover fresh herbs, sprinkle them on top before serving.
Tomato Tart Tips & FAQ
- Where can I find vegan puff pastry? Lots of commercial brands are vegan! Just check the ingredients list. I used Pepperidge Farm brand.
- What kind of tomatoes work best for this tart? Any kind! Want to make a pretty tart with colorful heirloom tomatoes? Go for it! Got some cherry tomatoes on hand? Use 'em! Just make sure they're good. I highly recommend making this one during the summer months when tomatoes are in season and good quality ones are readily available.
- Leftovers and storage: This tart is best served right away, but if you have leftovers they'll keep in a sealed container in the fridge for about 3 days.
- Save time the day of serving by making the cashew cheese a day or two in advance. Store it in a sealed container in the fridge until you're ready to use it.
Like this recipe? If so, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter. And please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you make it!
📖 Recipe
Cheesy Puff Pastry Tomato Tart
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds thinly sliced tomatoes (about 2 medium tomatoes or about 12 slices)
- 1 teaspoon salt, divided
- 1 sheet (about 8 ounces) frozen vegan puff pastry, thawed
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water 4 to 8 hours, drained and rinsed
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- Black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Arrange the tomato slices on a paper towel-lined baking sheet and sprinkle them with ½ teaspoon salt. Let them sit for 30 minutes.
- While the tomatoes sit, roll the puff pastry to a 9 x 13 inch rectangle and arrange it on a baking sheet. Gently press the dough into the corners of the baking sheet. Use a fork to poke holes in the dough, spaced at most an inch apart.
- Place the baking sheet into the oven. Keep an eye on the crust as it bakes — if any large bubbles begin to form, poke a few more holes in them with a fork and gently press the dough back down.
- Bake the crust for about 15 minutes, until golden and puffy.
- While the crust bakes, place the cashews, water, lemon juice, garlic, and ½ teaspoon of salt into the bowl of a food processor fitted with an s-blade.
- Blend the mixture until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the basil and thyme to the bowl, then pulse the food processor a few times until the herbs are chopped and incorporated into the mixture.
- After the crust has baked for about 15 minutes, remove it from the oven, but leave the oven on.
- Slather the top of the crust with the cashew cheese. Blot the tomato slices with a paper towel, then arrange them on top of the cheese.
- Place the tart back into the oven and bake it for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the tomatoes dry out just a bit on top.
- Remove the tart from the oven. Let it cool for a few minutes.
- Sprinkle the top of the tart with black pepper and additional salt if needed. If you have any leftover herbs, you can sprinkle them on top as well.
- Slice and serve.
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
My husband doesn't like tomatoes so I made this for dinner tonight since he is away, and it was a big hit. Delicious, flaky, delicate, and so sophisticated. Bravo! Thanks for a great recipe. <3
can you share please, how does this keep and reheat if I make it ahead of time or have leftovers? cant wait to try this!! thanks!!
Sorry for the late response! The puff pastry will definitely lose some of it's crispness over time, so it's best served immediately. But it should still be tasty for a day or two after you make it. You can serve it at room temperature or pop it in the oven for a few minutes to heat it up. Enjoy!!
Can I do the first bake before and then wait a few hours and finish it off
I haven't tried that, but I can't see why it wouldn't work. I'd love to hear how it turns out if you try it!
Hi Alissa, I don't have a food processor, can I use my blender till I get a food processor? This recipe looks delicious. I'm a vegetarian beginning the transition to becoming a vegan. I can't wait to try this recipe.
I made this today and it was delicious!! I added some sliced olives. I tried a slice as is… yum!!. Tried another with a drizzle of balsamic reduction, also yum!!
Hello
Can you do this with filo pastry instead of puff pastry? I can't find vegan puff pastry.
Thanks!
PS your minestrone soup and raw cheesecake were to die for!!!
I think so! I've seen other recipes that make a similar crust out of phyllo - I just haven't tired it myself. Glad you enjoyed the minestrone and cheesecake!
I made it using shortcrust pastry and it was really good! Thank you for the great recipe!!!🍴🍴🍴
I'm not even vegan but I like trying new things and I'm trying to reduce the amount of animal products I eat. This was absolutely delicious and surprisingly easy. It probably helped that I had ripe tomatoes from my garden!
Hi Alissa,
Jackie here again! I just remade this tomato tart. I used cauliflower crust ( home made) and tried sunflower seeds instead of cashews. It was just as yummy as the original.
Although if I was making this for company I would use the pastry and the cashews. The sunflower seeds might be a bit off putting in colour!
However my tastebuds has no issues!
I’m really enjoying your site.
Thank-you :)
Hi Alissa,
Just made the Tomato Tart.
Honestly!!! Amazing and quite easy!
Unfortunately my puff pastry comes with palm oil which of course I didn’t read the ingredients until I got home! I thought maybe the cauliflower crust might work?
Anyway regardless it was truly amazing!
Thank you :)