Savory Tart with Sausage, Vegetables & Cheese

Flaky puff pastry topped with layers of ricotta, caramelized onions, Italian sausage, Gruyère cheese, roasted red peppers and asparagus.

Additions and Substitutions

I really value versatility in dishes that include fresh ingredients such as meat, fish, fruit, and vegetables. It's important to be able to swap out ingredients based on personal taste, what's available in your area, and what's in season.

This Savory Sausage and Vegetable Tart recipe includes ricotta, Gruyère, Italian sausage, caramelized onions, roasted red peppers and asparagus because those ingredients sounded good to me, and because asparagus is currently in season. But nearly every ingredient in this Savory Tart recipe can be swapped out for another. For example...

• Use bacon or chicken instead of sausage.
• Artichokes instead of roasted red peppers.
• Thinly sliced zucchini or yellow squash instead of asparagus.
• The addition of garlic, olives, cherry tomatoes, sautéed mushrooms, fresh herbs or arugula.
• The ricotta base is also optional. I love the creamy texture and flavor it adds, but the tart would be perfectly delicious without it.
• And, of course, swap any other cheese you like for the Gruyère.

This savory tart is simple, quick and easy

This tart comes together in about 1-hour, start to finish, including bake time. Simply allow the puff pastry to thaw while you prepare the filling ingredients, assemble the tart and bake.

1. Cook some Italian Sausage in a skillet until cooked through. 
2. Use the same skillet to cook some onions.
3. Season ricotta with lemon zest, crushed red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.
4. Spread the puff pastry with ricotta, top with onions, sausage, and cheese.
5. Top with roasted red peppers and asparagus.
6. Bake until golden, cheesy, and delicious.

Divided into 4 large slices, the tart is a meal in and of itself. But, you could slice it into 6 or 8 smaller slices and serve it as an appetizer or side dish. It would be lovely served with salad in the summer or a bowl of soup in the winter.

You can also double the filling ingredients and bake two tarts at a time if serving a larger group:

• Divide your oven into thirds, with one rack towards the top of the oven and one towards the bottom.
• Bake the tarts, one per baking sheet, for 10-15 minutes.
• Then swap the placement of the baking sheets, moving the bottom sheet to the top rack and vice versa, and continue to cook for the remaining 10-15 minutes.