Cheese Tart With Peas and Herbs

This Cheese Tart Recipe with a three-cheese filling is my ultimate savory tart recipe. Garnish the tart with anything your like. Slightly blanched peas and super fresh herbs always make a great balance on this tart crust flavored with turmeric and rosemary.

I think this cheese tart recipe is the best savory tart recipe I’ve ever made. The crust, its filling and the toppings are all so good and they make the most wonderful combination of flavors. I’m so in love with the marriage of yellow and green in this recipe. If you are not a fan of savory tarts and if tart means something sweet for you, go check out our No Bake Chocolate Pomegranate Tart.

On the other hand, I promise these mini savory tarts are real game changers!

Ingredients For This Cheese Tart Recipe

Crust

It is so tasty that I can eat it on its own. What do we need for it?

• Flour
• Salt
• Turmeric
• Rosemary
• Cold Butter
• Cold milk
• Water

As you see, besides the regular ingredients for making a tart crust, I use turmeric (for a lovely color) and rosemary (for the flavor). That's why I call it unique.

Filling

I make a combination of different cheeses and eggs. So what do we need for this cheese tart filling recipe?

• milk
• eggs
• goat cheese
• feta cheese
• mini mozzarella balls
• salt
• egg yolk

Topping

I often keep things simple and use whatever vegetable I have, depending on the season. This time my toppings are:

• fresh peas
• green onions
• purslane
• micro greens

How To Make This Savory Tart Recipe

The recipe has four easy parts. 

First, make the crust. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Grate the cold butter gradually into the bowl and stir with a spatula. Add in the cold milk and the cold water gradually, stirring with a spatula. Then use your hands and make a non-sticky dough. You should be quick at this step so that the dough won't get warm. Wrap with a plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll it out and place it on a big tart pan or divide the dough into three and roll each out to fit in small tart pans. Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork, wait in the freezer for 20 minutes and then bake with a type of tart weight. (I use beans).

Second, make the cheese filling.

Third, share the filling on the baked tart crust. Brush the top with beaten egg yolk and bake.

Finally, top your tart with blanched peas and herbs when it cools down.

Note about the crust:

I’ve been a bit obsessed with turmeric these days after I learn that it’s one of those superfoods that have numerous health benefits. The flavor of turmeric in this buttery and flaky crust is so subtle that nobody can notice it unless they are told so. For an extra flavor, I added a little dried rosemary in the crust dough, which went very well with the cheese, peas and herbs.

How To Make Cheese Tart Filling Recipe

The cheese filling is quite straightforward.

Combine the goat cheese and feta with heated milk in a pot. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs. Add in one tablespoon of hot milk mixture and whisk constantly. This will help warm the eggs and prevent them to cook. Never pour all the hot milk mixture over eggs at once. Do it gradually. When the egg mixture is warm enough, transfer it into the milk pot and heat it again. Add in mozzarella balls and stir. Remove from heat.

Topping For The Tart

The green topping takes almost no time.

First, blanch the fresh peas in the boiling water for a few minutes and then immediately transfer them into freezing water to stop their cooking. Top each tart with these peas and herbs.

Although the process of making this cheese tart recipe sounds a bit complex, it’s really easy to make. You just need some time as you need to chill the dough and have two steps of baking; crust without the filling and then with the filling. But believe me it’s worth every second! With their sweet, savory and subtle spicy flavor, these min tarts are good enough to turn your breakfast or brunch an unforgettable occasion.

Turn It Into A Vegetable Tart

Although I love peas and herbs on my tart, they are completely optional. You can easily turn this recipe into a cheesy vegetable tart. What you need to do is to place whatever veggie you like on your tart right after the cheese filling and bake them altogether. Don't forget to brush the vegetables on the top with olive oil before baking.

What vegetables can you use?

Tomatoes would be amazing. That's for sure. Okay, using this recipe, I need to make a tomato tart soon.

The other vegetable is definitely zucchini. Did you love creating recipes with zucchini as much as I do? Go ahead and use thinly sliced zucchini on the topping.

Related: Tomato Zucchini Tart

Still craving for a sweet tart? Check these out!

Persimmon Kefir Tart

4-Ingredient Chocolate Strawberry Tartlets

Cheese Tart With Peas And Herbs

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

A very tasty two-cheese filling is paired with slightly steamed peas and very fresh herbs on a unique amber colored rosemary tart crust.

• Author: Zerrin
• Prep Time: 1 hour
• Cook Time: 45 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
• Yield: 3 mini tarts 1x
• Category: Brunch
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: American

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

Crust dough:

• 1 and ½ cups (210grams) all purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 stick plus 1 tablespoon (126grams) butter
• 1 teaspoon cold milk
• ¼ cup cold water

Cheese filling:

• ⅔ cup milk
• 2 eggs, whisked
• ¼ cup goat cheese
• ½ cup feta cheese
• ½ cup mini mozzarella balls
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 egg yolk, for egg wash

Topping:

• 1 cup peas, fresh or frozen
• 2 green onions, parsley, purslane and micro greens for garnish

Instructions

1. Whisk together the flour, salt, turmeric and rosemary in a large bowl. Grate the butter gradually into the bowl mixing with a spatula every 20 seconds so that the pieces don’t pile up.
2. Add in the cold milk and the cold water gradually, stirring with a spatula. Then use your hands and make a non-sticky dough. If it doesn’t come together, add a tablespoon of cold water and mix. Be as quick as you can at this step so that the dough doesn’t get warm. Make it a big ball and wrap with a plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
3. Grease 3 3-inch tartlet pans very well and set aside.
4. Divide the dough into three. Take one of them and put the other two in the refrigerator back. Roll the dough in a circular shape, about ¼ inch thick. Transfer it onto the mini tart pan. Press it slightly in the pan, trimming off the excess. Prick the bottom of the crust all over with a fork. Repeat the same for the two other dough balls. Put these in the freezer for 20 minutes and meanwhile preheat oven to 350F.
5. Place a piece of baking paper on each and put ½ cup of beans or another tart weight. Bake about 15 minutes or until golden. Let them cool.
6. For the cheese filling; in a medium pan, heat the milk but don’t let it boil. Add in the crumbled goat cheese and feta, stirring continually so that everything is combined well. Remove from heat.
7. Preheat the oven to 375F now.
8. Whisk two eggs in a bowl and warm the eggs by adding 1 tablespoon of milk mixture onto it and whisking constantly. Add almost half of the milk mixture into the egg bowl this way. Don’t pour the whole milk mixture on the eggs at once, otherwise the eggs are cooked and we don’t want this. Transfer the egg mixture into the milk pot and place it back over the heat. Add in mini mozzarella balls. Let it thickens, stirring every minute for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and add in salt.
9. Share the cheese filling into mini tart pans. Brush top of each with whisked egg yolk. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the filling is set. Remove from oven and let it cool.
10. Meanwhile blanch the peas in boiling water for 5 minutes or until tender and transfer into very cold water. Let it wait there for 5 minutes and drain.
11. Top the cooled cheese tarts with blanched peas and herbs.

Notes

You can use a 9-inch tart pan too instead of mini pans.
Hold the butter with paper towel when grating so that it won’t melt with the heat of your hand.

Keywords: savory tart with cheese, rosemary, turmeric

This post was originally published in 2016 and has been updated.