Fresh Tomato Tart
by Sommer Collier — last updated on May 15, 2025 
This vibrant Tomato Tart with fresh tomatoes, a creamy cheese base, and buttery crust is a great way to enjoy your summer tomatoes in a savory pie!
Tomato Tart Recipe (AKA Tomato Pie)
Sommer’s Recipe Notes
I learned to make traditional tomato pies shortly after moving to the South. The comforting combination of freshly-baked garden produce, molten cheese, and pastry crust is hard to beat.
This updated fresh tomato tart is truly beautiful inside and out, with astounding southern comfort and wilted tomatoes covering the top! Not only is this tomato tart knockout-gorgeous, but it’s also easy to make, even with a buttery made-from-scratch crust.
If you’re in a hurry, you can use a refrigerated roll-out pie crust instead. Yet I do recommend using the tart crust recipe below if you have the time.
The cheese filling under the tomatoes is a luxurious, southern blend of creamy mayonnaise, cheese, and herbs. We are using provolone cheese for its delicate flavor and amazing melting properties. However, you can use any cheese you like that shreds easily and melts smoothly.
Ingredients You Need
For the Tart Crust:
- All-purpose flour
- Cornstarch
- Butter, diced
- Egg
- Salt
For the Tomato Pie Filling:
- Grape or cherry tomatoes, rinsed and dried
- Sharp provolone cheese, grated (sub fontina or white cheddar)
- Fresh basil leaves
- Mayonnaise
- Green onions, chopped
- Black pepper
How to Make A Tomato Tart
Find the full Tomato Tart recipe with ingredient proportions, detailed instructions, and a video tutorial in the printable form at the bottom of the post.
Protein Pointer – If you are looking for ways to add extra protein to all your meals, you can add 1/2 cup drained cottage cheese to the filling.
Servings Suggestions
This savory tart is the perfect center piece to any summer meal. Consider serving it as the main dish of a vegetarian meal with Couscous Salad (with Pickled Vegetables) or Farro Salad with Kale and Artichokes, Creamy Deviled Egg Pasta Salad, Pickled Watermelon Rind, and Mandarin Orange Salad.
Or serve this tart as a side dish, with Grilled Blackened Chicken, Bavette Steak (Flap Meat Steak), Pork Chops with Pork Chop Seasoning, Broccoli Salad with Bacon, Cool and Creamy Grape Salad, and Creamy Cucumber Salad Recipe with Dill.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, keep the grape tomatoes whole and bake the tart as directed in the recipe below.
Sure you can! Fresh thyme leaves, fresh parsley, or rosemary are all good options.
Layer the crust while raw and bake the tart all together. If you are concerned about the bottom baking through, you can place the fresh tomato tart on the lowest rack so the bottom of the crust is closer to the heat source.
You can store this in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-4 days. Or you can wrap the tart dish with plastic wrap for overnight storage at room temperature.
I would suggest making this dish with homemade pie crusts. However, you can use a puff pastry sheet or a premade pie crust, rolled and cut to fit the pan. Bake according to the recipe below.
Other Great Side Dish Recipes
Tomato Tart Recipe with Basil
Video
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch + 2 teaspoons
- 6 tablespoons butter diced
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
For the Filling:
- 2 pints grape or cherry tomatoes rinsed and dried
- 1 1/2 cups sharp provolone grated (or fontina)
- 1/2 cup basil leaves divided
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup chopped green onions
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- For the Crust: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a food processor, combine the flour, cornstarch , butter, and salt. Pulse the mixture until it forms very tiny bits. Add one egg and pulse until a dough forms. This dough is rather tough, but it does come together nicely.
- Gather the dough into a ball. Then press the dough in to the 9-inch tart pan, covering every bit. (You can roll the dough out to a 12-inch circle if you want.) Crimp the edges, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Roughly chop 1/4 cup of the basil leaves. Stack and roll the remaining basil leaves and cut them into thin ribbons. Save the ribbons for the end. Mix the cheese, mayo, chopped basil, green onions and pepper in a bowl. Spread the mixture over the bottom of the tart shell.
- Top with grape tomatoes and press them down. Bake for 35 minutes, until the crust edges are golden-brown and the cheese is bubbling up.
- Cool for 10 minutes, then sprinkle with 1/4 cup sliced basil ribbons. Serve warm.
Both of the tarts look beautiful. I've never had a tomato tart, so I'm putting this on my to make list.
thanks a lot for you answer; i was just wondering :)) have a good day!
Friends~
Thanks for all the encouragement. Parenting is HARD, but I say a prayer and do the best I can!
Beautiful photographs! And, you know, in a way, I'm glad the little tomatoes (we call them cherry tomatoes here) taste better than the heirloom ones because I haven't seen any heirloom tomatoes on sale!
Magdalena~
Yes, I added RAW grape tomatoes. They retain all juices inside the skin and it only comes out when you bite it! With my old tomato pie recipe, I used to chop, salt and strain the tomatoes for 20-30 minutes to remove a lot of the juices. Using grape tomatoes makes that step unnecessary!
It's heartening to hear the voice of a mum who has her heart and philosophy in the right place, in my opinion! You'd be surprised how many mums get swept up by the tide and start moulding their daughters from early on to conform to society's expectations. I suppose part of it arises out of the fear that their daughters will lose out if they don't keep up *sigh* Kudos to you Sommer, for bucking the trend! Looks like your daughter is already on the right path, whether or not she knows it :)
The tomato tart sounds and looks lovely and I would go for taste over looks any day! I think it's Lazaro (yup, that guy up there LOL) who said something like "Looks impress for 15 seconds but taste grabs the memory"….. but don't quote me on that cos my memory sucks ;)
They both look beautiful, great job!
Tomato Tarts are one our fav dishes here and your's looks delicious
Congrats on the Top 9 today
Hello! Your tart looks absolutely great, but I have one question – you put raw tomatoes on your tart – is the bottom of the tart after baking still ok (meaning, not too watery)? thanks for answering me and have a good day!
Wow I am surprised about F&W just like you. I am glad you caught it though and worked out the fixes because this was on my list for NH tomato season coming up in a few months. Looks tasty!
Thank You!
Jason
first congrats on the top 9, I think both tarts looks amazing, such a nice recipe. Will definitely try that.
How can you go wrong with fresh tomatoes! What a delicious dish!