These vegan savoury Mediterranean tarts are quick and easy to make, taste delicious and look sensational! It is the perfect savoury vegan tart recipe for an easy lunch with friends. The tahini pastry is my favourite vegan and gluten-free pastry that comes together in seconds in the food processor and accepts all manner of over-handling (unlike the more pernicious wheat pastry!). You can roast the vegetable toppings in the oven while you bake the pastry and then just assemble it all together with hummus as a base layer. So simple yet so delicious for all your vegan and gluten-free tart needs!
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This savoury vegan tart recipe came about due to my inherent laziness and usual lack of time and general disorganisation! I had friends coming for lunch and had originally planned a casserole type meal but when the weather turned out to be particularly nice, we decided to eat outside and I thought the meal didn’t really go with the setting. So, I decided to change the plan at the last minute. I wanted something that looked pretty but I didn’t have much time to get it all together so it needed to be quick and easy and using ingredients that I already had in the fridge. And so evolved the wonderful idea to use hummus as a base for the toppings on a tart!
If, like me, you always have a bowl of hummus in the fridge, these vegan Mediterranean tarts can literally be made any time, with whatever vegetables you have to hand! The garlicky hummus pairs so well with the vegan gluten-free pastry (both with tahini as a base) which provide a wonderful rich background flavour to the lighter roasted vegetables on top. Serve with a salad for a light lunch or with a potatoes and wilted spinach for something a bit more filling!
Vegan and Gluten-Free Tahini Pastry
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this pastry is nothing short of amazing! I first made it for my little mushroom bacon tartlets at Christmas time and then again for the creamy tofu pie. It is so adaptable, it worked brilliantly in the asparagus and pesto macadamia tart a few months ago, and again here for these tarts. Is there nothing this tahini pastry doesn’t work well with? I keep thinking I should offer a different type of vegan and gluten-free pastry on the blog soon but I keep getting drawn back to this one because it’s just so versatile!
Nutrition
As tarts go, this one being vegan and full of vegetables and healthy plant-based protein (from the chickpeas in the hummus), is going to be better for you than most tarts! The sesame seeds in the tahini (which is in the pastry and in the hummus) are bursting with goodness and they are particularly high in calcium (see this healthline.com article for 7 surprising benefits of tahini!). All vegetables are good for you since they are packed with antioxidants and polyphenols so whichever veggies you choose for these vegan roasted vegetable tarts will be doing good for your body!
Basic Instructions
Although it looks like there are a lot of steps to this, this vegan savoury tart recipe is actually very simple and comes together with very little hands on effort.
- Cut the top off the garlic bulb, drizzle with a little oil, wrap it in foil, and roast at 200°C for 30-40 minutes.
- Make the pastry by whizzing the ingredients briefly in a food processor. Press the mixture into a tart tin and up the sides then chill in the fridge for 10 minutes.
- Bake the pastry in the oven at 200°C for 15-20 minutes (can be done at the same time as the garlic).
- Slice the courgette (zucchini) and red onion, mix with some oil and seasoning and roast at 200°C for 20 minutes, turning half way through cooking time (do this after the pastry has cooked, while it is cooling).
- Let the pastry case cool a little. Meanwhile mix the roasted garlic cloves into the hummus.
- Spoon the garlicky hummus into the bottom of the pastry case and spread around. Then lay the courgette and red onion slices on top. Decorate with herbs and nigella seeds.
If you want to make it even easier, skip the garlic part and just use normal hummus! It still tastes delicious but just doesn’t have quite the same depth of flavour.
This is a summary only. Please see the printable recipe card at the bottom of this page for full detailed instructions. Thermomix instructions are also included in the recipe card.
Chef’s Tips
- For roasting garlic, I like to wrap it in baking paper and foil because I don’t like the foil to touch the food I’m eating. The jury is still out on whether there are any ill effects from cooking in foil (see this healthline.com article about cooking in foil) so I’d rather just take the easy step of adding baking paper between the food and the foil just in case!
- Transferring the vegan and gluten-free pastry case out of the tart tin onto a board or plate is always a little bit nerve-wracking. Don’t worry if it cracks, because the hummus filling is thick and not runny so no-one will see the cracks anyway! Also, it is best to use a tart case that has a loose bottom so that you can just push it up through the sides, to make it really simple to transfer to a plate.
Knife Skills
- When slicing the onion, I slice vertically through the middle of the root and then lay the flat side on the chopping board and slice thin half moons up to the root. That is the best way to avoid crying eyes!
- For slicing the courgette, it is nice to slice diagonally at an angle to give interesting oval shapes.
Serving suggestions
These vegan Mediterranean tarts are quite filling, so I like to serve them with a green salad on the side. For a colourful side, you could add some delicious roasted red peppers or this herby quinoa salad. For feeding more of a crowd, you could make the tart go further by adding some boiled new potatoes (or roast the new potatoes in the oven at the same time as cooking the tart ingredients!).
Substitutions
- If you’re not wild about the idea of making your own pastry (even though it is super easy, I promise!), you could easily substitute for ready-made pastry. I think vegan and gluten-free pastry is probably easier to come by in some places than others. Unfortunately I have never seen it in the shops here in Doha but think they have it in the UK and US.
- Likewise, you could use shop-bought hummus and mix in 2 teaspoon of black garlic puree instead of roasting the garlic bulb. That makes for an even easier version of this delicious savoury vegan tart!
- If you’re not a fan of courgette (zucchini), try making this vegan roasted vegetable tart with another vegetable of your choice. Asparagus, broccoli, green beans, or beetroot would all work well! Roasted cherry tomatoes are ok but the juice makes it a little bit watery. I would recommend using sun-blushed tomatoes instead perhaps with some pesto and black olives too. Just experiment with whatever vegetables you like! I would highly recommend trying this courgette and red onion one first though as it’s so delicious!
- I added vegan feta once (see photo of the two oblong tarts further up) but I wouldn't try that again as it masked the delicious flavour of the courgettes.
Making ahead & Leftovers
You can make all the constitutent parts of these savoury vegan roasted vegetable tarts in advance and then assemble at the time of serving. Blind bake the pastry case and leave it covered in the fridge for a few hours or up to a day in advance (but I must admit, it is best eaten on the day of baking). Make the garlicky hummus up to 3 days in advance. You'd be better off roasting the courgettes and onion on the day of serving so that they stay soft and tender. It’s also nice to have them a little warm and soft rather than fridge cold so I prefer to do these nearer the time of serving.
You can keep leftovers of this vegan roasted vegetable tart covered in the fridge for 2 or 3 days. The pastry will start to go a little bit soggy, the longer it is left.
📖 Recipe 📖
Vegan Roasted Vegetable Tart
Equipment
- tart dishes (whatever size and shape you like)
Ingredients
Pastry
- 60 g rice flour
- 60 g chestnut flour
- 80 g arrowroot
- 40 g tahini
- 50 g vegan butter
- 80 g coconut oil
- 50 g water
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- pinch salt
Filling
- 150 g hummus, homemade or store-bought
- 1 garlic bulb
Topping
- 2 courgettes, sliced thinly
- 1 small red onion
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- pinch salt and pepper
Garnish
- a few thyme or oregano leaves
- black sesame seeds or nigella seeds
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 200°C / 400°F.
Pastry
- Mix the pastry ingredients together by pulsing in a food processor a few times until it is well combined. (Thermomix : 20 secs / sp. 4, scraping down half way)Pour the mixture into the tart dish and press down and up the sides to push the mixture together to form the tart case. Cover and put in the fridge or freezer to chill for 10 minutes.60 g rice flour, 60 g chestnut flour, 80 g arrowroot, 40 g tahini, 50 g vegan butter, 80 g coconut oil, 50 g water, 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast, pinch salt
- Once the pastry has chilled to harden up a bit, stab the base a few times all over with a fork, then line with with a crumpled up piece of baking paper (crumpling it softens it enough to line the pastry) and fill with baking beans (or rice or dried beans). Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 200°C / 400°F until the pastry is browned and there is no grey colour on the base. Check it after 15 minutes – if it is browned on the sides but not quite ready on the bottom, take the paper and baking beans out and turn the temperature down to 180°C to cook the base for a few more minutes. Once cooked through, take it out of the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.
Topping
- Slice the top off the garlic bulb then wrap it in foil. Roast the wrapped garlic in the oven at 200°C / 400°F for 40 minutes (or 30 minutes in the air fryer).1 garlic bulb
- Meanwhile, thinly slice the red onion and courgette (zucchini) into slices and lay them in a non-stick roasting tin (or line with baking paper if it is not non-stick). Pour over the olive oil and salt and pepper. Mix together with your hands to ensure all the red onion and courgette slices are covered with the oil and seasoning. Roast in the oven at 200°C / 400°F for 20 minutes. (This can be done at the same time as the pastry and the garlic).2 courgettes, 1 small red onion, 1 tablespoon olive oil, pinch salt and pepper
- Remove the vegetables and garlic from the oven. Unwrap the garlic and squeeze the browned garlic cloves out of their cases then roughly mix into the hummus with a fork.1 garlic bulb, 150 g hummus
Assemble the tart
- When the pastry case has cooled, spoon the roasted garlic hummus into it and spread it to the edges. Then place the red onion and courgette slices in a pretty pattern on top of the filling. Sprinkle with fresh thyme (or your favourite fresh herb) and black sesame seeds or nigella seeds.a few thyme or oregano leaves, black sesame seeds or nigella seeds
- Serve with a fresh green salad lightly dressed with a simple French dressing or, for a heartier dish, serve with some potatoes and wilted spinach or steamed broccoli.
Notes
- The cooking time for the pastry will depend somewhat on the size of your tart tins. I have used this to make long, rectangular tarts, small heart-shaped tarts and even tiny little tartlets for canapés. It will take roughly the same time but just go by the look of the pastry rather than exact timings.
- This is my favourite topping but any roasted vegetables will work well if you want to use others.
- To make this really quick and easy to prepare, you can swap for shop-bought pastry, and shop-bought hummus mixed with a couple of teaspoons of black garlic paste instead. Then all you need to do is roast the veggies!
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe? Please leave a ⭐ star rating ⭐ on the recipe card!
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If you like savoury vegan Mediterranean roasted vegetable tart recipe, you may like these other delicious vegan and gluten-free lunch recipes too:
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