Fresh Cherry Tomato Tart

Anchored in a bed of nutty pesto, jammy caramelized onions, and salty feta, a bounty of fresh cherry tomatoes completes this delicious savory tart. Perfect as a hearty appetizer or a light summer meal.

Jump to:

• What's the Story Behind this Recipe?
• What Goes into this Recipe
• How to Make Little Oven Annie's Tomato Tart
• FAQs & Expert Tips
• More Fresh Tomato Recipes
• Fresh Cherry Tomato Tart

What's the Story Behind this Recipe?

Some years ago, my sister introduced me to a place in Vancouver, Washington called Leonardo's Pizzaria. Leonardo's creates amazing pizza, with a dependably delicious crust that has exactly the right amount of bite and chew. 

Our favorite variety of pizza at Leonardo's is Little Oven Annie, a savory-sweet fusion of caramelized onions, feta, spinach and a unique grape leaf walnut pesto. My introduction this unique and delicious pizza happened to coincide with (a) my biennual tart-baking phase, and (b) a serious bumper crop of cherry tomatoes in our garden.

Little Oven Annie offered a perfect base for a tomato tart - and here we are.

What Goes into this Recipe

Ingredient Notes & Substitutions

Caramelized Onions

★ Onions: It may seem counterintuitive, but avoid using sweet onions for caramelizing. Sweet onions will work, but will take significantly longer to cook, and the end-product has less flavor than that made with red and/or yellow onions. (Check How to Caramelized Onions for more on the Science of Onions.)

The type of onions you use can affect both the cooking time and the sweetness level of your finished onions. We prefer to use a mixture of red and yellow onions. 

★ Butter: We use salted butter. You can also use a 50/50 mix of butter and olive oil.

Grape Leaf Pesto

Grape leaf pesto can be made well ahead of time, and frozen for up to six months. You can also use any mild, basil-based pesto with good results.

★ Grape leaves: For most of the year, it is impossible to find fresh grape leaves; however, they are ready at exactly the same time as fresh cherry tomatoes, so keep an eye out at your local farmers' market.

Do not use canned grape leaves for this recipe.

★ Basil: Use fresh basil.

★ Parmesan: Use shredded or grated parmesan. Asiago also works well.

★ Walnuts: We had some delicious red walnuts when we made this batch pesto, but you can use any walnut variety.

★ Oil: Use light olive oil, canola oil, or any other neutral cooking oil.

★ Garlic: Use fresh, whole garlic.

Tart

★ Cherry tomatoes: We prefer to use cherry or grape tomatoes for this tart. They are self-contained, so they don't lose all their moisture or structure as cut tomatoes would do.

★ Pie crust: Use homemade pastry or store-bought pie crust.

★ Feta: Use fresh feta.

How to Make Little Oven Annie's Tomato Tart

Caramelize the Onions

This process will take no less than 40 minutes. 

Slice onions from pole to pole (root to stem), about ⅛"-¼" inch thick. Cutting the onions this way prevents them from breaking down too much during the caramelizing process.

Melt 2 tablespoons of salted butter in a large heavy skillet over MEDIUM heat. Add sliced onions and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until onions start becoming translucent.

Reduce the heat to MEDIUM-LOW, and continue to cook the onions, stirring occasionally for 40-50 minutes, or until they are soft, almost jammy, and rich brown in color. Remove from the heat and set them aside. 

Make the Grape Leaf Pesto

Grape leaf pesto can be made well ahead of time, and frozen for up to six months.

Cut the stems off of the grape leaves and chop them coarsely.

Blanch chopped grape leaves by placing them in a pan and covering with boiling water. Do not heat on the stove. Let them sit for 3-5 minutes, and then rinse in cold water in a colander and set aside.

Heat a small frying pan over medium heat until it is hot. Add walnuts to the pan and stir constantly until the nuts begin to smell "toasty" and slightly darken in color. (Do not let them burn.) 

Combine the blanched grape leaves, basil, garlic, Parmesan, olive oil, and toasted walnuts in the bowl of a food processor. 

Pulse to form a textured paste. It's ok if there are granular lumps; you just don't want it to be chunky. 

The pesto-making process can also be done by hand, using a molciete, or large stone mortar and pestle.(The kind you might may guacamole in.)

Assemble & Bake Tart

Preheat oven.

• Standard aluminum pie plate - 450°F | 235°C
• Glass pie dish & anodized aluminum plate - 425° F | 220°C

Lay the pie crust into a shallow pie dish or tart pan. Crimp or trim edges. I like to use a rolling pin to cut a sharp edge on my tart pastry. 

For flakier pastry, place the prepared tart shell in the freezer for 10 minutes before proceeding. 

Spread prepared pesto over the bottom of the cold tart shell. 

Layer on caramelized onions, and then feta. Cover the entire tart top with cherry tomatoes.

This tomato tart is baked at a high temperature for a short amount of time. 

Place prepared tart into preheated oven and bake 20 minutes, checking crust edges after 15 minutes. If the crust is browning too quickly, cover it with a strip of aluminum foil or a pie shield before you return it to the oven.

The tart is done when the cherry tomatoes begin to burst and the crust is a light golden brown.

Remove tart from oven and allow to rest 10 minutes. Sprinkle with a chiffonade of fresh spinach just before serving.

FAQs & Expert Tips

Caramelize Onions Ahead of Time

Caramelizing onions the traditional way – on the stovetop, low and slow – can be frustrating and time-consuming. We usually make our caramelized onions ahead of time and freeze them for when we need them. We use a foolproof slow-cooker method that bypasses the skillet and stovetop altogether. 

More Fresh Tomato Recipes

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Originally published August 21, 2015. Post has been updated with new content, images, and recipe instructions to improve reader experience.