This morning I am sitting at my table by the window that overlooks the backyard. The door is open and the fan overhead is pushing a cool breeze around the room. After weeks of what I consider brutal heat, the tail end of a storm last week brought a much-needed break in the weather. It’s almost like we are skipping August and heading straight to fall tomorrow.

I can’t say I’d be disappointed if that happened.

There hasn’t been a lot of what some might consider “real” cooking around here lately. Cooking that requires a detailed recipe, a trip to the grocery store, and a pan or two has taken a backseat to distractedness. Maybe the change in barometric pressure has stirred things up. Like leaves caught in the swirl of an updraft, I’ve felt restless this past week. I’m just floating on a gentle current figuring I’ll land again at some point.

And it’s times like these that I find myself staring at an open fridge filled with odds and ends leftover from structured and specific recipes. Some red onion, a zucchini almost past its prime, and a forgotten package of puff pastry seemed like guests who’d overstayed their welcome. But then I took a closer look and suddenly they shined with potential. So, in the spirit of going with the restless flow, I gathered those odds and ends and transformed them into something new.

I can’t help but think this puff pastry tart is really just a dressed up pizza. Like its distant cousin, pizza dough, a sheet of puff pastry is a foundation for any combination of savory toppings – in this case thinly sliced zucchini, slivers of red onion, and creamy goat cheese – but it’s less high maintenance (no dough rolling or shaping) and has an air of effortless fanciness about it. I made it dinner with a simple green salad on the side and snacked on the extra slices the next day.

I know sturdier, less free-flowing recipes will resurface, but, for now, I’m letting restlessness lead the way. It’s summer, after all. Maybe this is exactly how things should be right now.

Zucchini & Goat Cheese Puff Pastry Tart

I’ve included ingredient amounts mostly as a guide, but the key to this puff pastry tart is a light hand. Be sure to thinly slice the vegetables and use just enough to cover the dough without loading it down too much. Same goes with the cheese – a little goes a long way.

Author: April @ Girl Gone Gourmet
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Yield: 4

Ingredients

Cooking spray
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
2 teaspoons olive oil
2-3 pinches of kosher salt
1/4 small zucchini, thinly sliced
thinly sliced red onion (just enough to scatter on the tart)
1/2 teaspoon herbes de Provence
1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Unfold the pastry onto a baking sheet lightly coated with cooking spray. Brush the puff pastry with olive oil and sprinkle a pinch of salt over the top. Place the zucchini on the dough with each slice slightly overlapping the other leaving space for a border. Top the zucchini with the red onion.
Sprinkle the herbs and another pinch or two of salt over the top (including the edges of the dough). Top with the crumbled goat cheese. Using a dinner knife, score the pastry around the perimeter (leaving the edge that will puff up while baking).
Bake the pastry for 20-25 minutes until the edges are puffed and golden. Serve warm or at room temperature.