Fresh Cherry Tomato Tart

Name: Fresh Cherry Tomato Tart
Prep time: 60 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 80 min
Ingredients: 1 pound fresh cherry tomatoes; 1 large pie crust (homemade or store-bought); 2 ounces crumbled feta cheese; ¼ cup fresh spinach; 2 tablespoons salted butter; 2 large onions; 2 ounces fresh grape leaves (about 2 cups, packed); 3 cloves garlic; ¼ cup Parmesan cheese; ½-¾ cup vegetable oil; ¼ cup walnuts; 1 ounce fresh basil (about 3/4 cup, packed)

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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.

Side view of tomato tart, baked and garnished with fresh spinach ribbons.

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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.

Caramelized onions on parchment. — Love caramelized onions? Try our easy-to-make Classic French Onion Soup!

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.

Overhead shot of cherry tomatoes covering an unbaked tart.

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.

Side view of cherry tomato tart out of the oven.

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

Overhead shot of fresh cherry tomato tart, baked and garnished with fresh spinach ribbons.

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.

What's the difference between frying and caramelizing onions?

Grilled, fried, and sauteed onions are cooked at medium-high to high heat. Depending on your heat source and the pan you use, it will take 5-10 minutes to grill onions for a recipe. When done, they will be more translucent, with crispy, brown edges.

Caramelized onions, on the other hand, are best cooked at medium-low heat. It can take anywhere from 45 minutes up to an hour and a half to caramelize onions. When done, caramelized onions will be uniformly brown, with a thick, jammy consistency.

Can you use premade pesto for this tart?

Yes! Absolutely! 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.

For this recipe, you can use any mild, basil-based pesto with good results.

More Fresh Tomato Recipes

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5 from 2 votes

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

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Course: Appetizer, Lunch, Main

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Prep Time:1 hour

Cook Time:20 minutes

Total Time:1 hour 20 minutes

Servings: slices

Calories: 209kcal

Author: Renee

Equipment

1 Tart Pan
1 heavy skillet
1 Rolling Pin

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

1 pound fresh cherry tomatoes
1 large pie crust homemade or store-bought
2 ounces crumbled feta cheese
¼ cup fresh spinach chiffonade

Caramelized Onions

2 tablespoons salted butter
2 large onions

Walnut Pesto

2 ounces fresh grape leaves about 2 cups, packed
3 cloves garlic
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
½-¾ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup walnuts
1 ounce fresh basil about ¾ cup, packed

Instructions

Caramelized Onions

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.

Grape Leaf & Walnut Pesto

Cut the stems off of the grape leaves and chop them coarsely.
Blanch grape leaves by placing them in a pan and covering with boiling water.
Do not heat on the stove. Let the leaves steep in the hot water 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.
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 Tart

Preheat oven.
• Standard aluminum pie plate – 450°F [232°C]
• Glass pie dish & anodized aluminum plate – 425° F [218°C]
Lay the pie crust into a shallow pie dish or tart pan. Crimp or trim edges.
Spread prepared pesto over the bottom of the pastry. Layer on caramelized onions, and then feta.
Cover the entire tart top with cherry tomatoes.
Bake 20 minutes, checking crust edges after 15 minutes. If they are getting too brown, cover with a strip of aluminum foil or a pie shield.
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.

Notes

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.

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.

Nutrition

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.

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