Complete Breakfast Tart Recipe

This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure for details.

Hi Bold Bakers!

WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE: This Complete Breakfast Tart Recipe cradles all of your favorite wake-up foods in a layer of buttery puff pastry. Savory sausage, cheese, and bright cherry tomatoes are baked with eggs to form a tempting savory tart that will be as welcome at lunch or dinner as it is for your morning meal. The lovely presentation and colors make it a perfect choice for a festive brunch, and because the prepped ingredients are put right in the tart pan, it’s quick to put together and a cinch to clean up.

Be sure to have a go at making the puff pastry! You don’t have to be intimidated when you use my mum’s foolproof recipe. But if you’re pressed for time, use a store-bought type that’s made with butter.

Table of Contents

• What is a Complete Breakfast Tart?
• Tools You Need to Make a Complete Breakfast Tart
• Key Ingredients and Why
• How to Make a Complete Breakfast Tart
• Can I Make a Complete Breakfast Tart in Advance?
• How to Store a Complete Breakfast Tart
• FAQs
• Gemma’s Pro Chef Tips
• More Savory Tart Recipes

What is a Complete Breakfast Tart Recipe?

• This Complete Breakfast Tart Recipe is an egg, cheese, sausage, and tomato mixture baked in puff pastry.
• In this breakfast tart, the eggs are cracked directly over the sausage, cheese, and tomato. This differs from a quiche, where eggs are blended with cream first. Using just the eggs in the Complete Breakfast Tart makes it lighter and less rich than a quiche.
• Forms of egg tarts go back as far as ancient Greece and Rome. Today different types of savory pastry containing eggs are popular all over the world, and they’re popular because you get a perfect serving of morning protein in one one scrumptious and convenient slice.

Tools You Need to Make a Complete Breakfast Tart

• Tart pan and parchment paper
• Baking beans (dried rice, beans, lentils or sugar)
• Measuring cups and measuring spoons
• Mixing bowls
• Medium skillet
• Spatula

Key Ingredients and Why

• The Easiest Puff Pastry Recipe
  • Butter: You need your butter to be frozen for this technique to work! So pop it in the freezer for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight. I always use salted butter unless specified otherwise. You can use also unsalted butter here. 
  • Ice water: You want to keep everything as cool as possible to prevent the butter from melting before baking.
  • Lemon juice: Lemon juice helps to tenderize the dough.
  • All-purpose flour: AP flour will serve as the base of the puff pastry.
  • Salt: A little dash of salt makes everything taste better! 

• Sausage

  • Sausage adds savory flavor, heft, and additional protein to the tart.
  • Use ground sausage meat, or buy sausages and remove the meat from the casings.
  • You can opt for breakfast sausage, or go for sweet or spicy Italian (either pork or chicken) sausage, or garlic sausage.

• Cherry Tomatoes

  • Cherry tomatoes add zippy flavor, texture, and lovely color to the tart.

• Sharp Cheddar Cheese

  • Sharp cheddar gives the puff pastry breakfast tart an unbeatable tangy, salty, nutty taste.
  • The cheese gives the tart a creamier texture.
  • For best results, shred up a block of your favorite cheddar. Prepackaged shredded cheese is treated with anti-caking agent to not clump in the bag, and this additive means it doesn’t melt as well. Also often pre-shredded cheese cheese can be lesser quality.

• Eggs

  • Eggs are the core of the tart, and the separation of the yolks and the whites gives the tart a fun, surprising texture and an interesting look.
  • Use large eggs here, and use room temperature eggs. Here’s How to Get Room Temperature Eggs.

How to Make a Complete Breakfast Tart

• Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C)
• Blind bake the pastry to avoid a soggy crust:
  • Roll the puff pastry out to a ¼-inch (6 mm) thick circle. Place in the tart pan, line with parchment paper, fill with pie weights or dried beans and bake for 15 minutes.
  • Remove the parchments and bake for 5 to 10 more minutes, until golden brown, and remove from oven.
• Prepare toppings:
  • While the puff pastry is baking, sautee the sausage until well done.
  • Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the pastry, add the tomato and cooked sausage.  Crack the eggs over the other ingredients.
• Finish baking:
  • Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for 14 to 18 minutes until egg whites are set.
  • If you like softer-cooked, jammy yolks, take the tart out closer to the 14-minute mark. If you prefer hard-cooked yolks, cook for the full 18 minutes.
• Serve warm with chopped parsley on top.

Can I Make a Complete Breakfast Tart in Advance?

The tart is best enjoyed right after baking, but you can make the puff pastry dough ahead of time.

• Wrap the dough well in cling film. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to three days or the freezer for one month.
• To defrost frozen dough, let it sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.

How to Store a Complete Breakfast Tart

You can keep leftovers refrigerated for one day. Reheat in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 10 minutes.

FAQs

• Can I make Complete Breakfast Tart with another crust?

Yes, you can make this breakfast tart with The Perfect Savory Pie Crust or Buttermilk Pie Crust. I often use these for savory and they work wonderfully.

• Is it difficult to learn how to make puff pastry?

  • It’s not difficult to make puff pastry with my mum’s step-by-step instructions on The Easiest Puff Pastry Recipe. Be sure to watch the video that will make the pastry-making process clear and simple.
  • Unlike most recipes that require lots of folding of the dough, our recipe uses a frozen butter technique that makes things simpler and quicker.
  • Be sure to let the dough rest for at least an hour before rolling it out. This gives the gluten a chance to relax and makes the pastry easier to work with.

• Why did my puff pastry turn out oily?

  • Keeping the pastry cold and putting it in a very hot oven is the key to keeping the butter in the dough and not having it leak out.
  • Be sure to use hard dairy butter instead of spreadable butter or whipped butter. Vegan baking butter (not spread) should also work well.
  • The secret in this puff pastry recipe is the FROZEN butter. All the water content will evaporate during baking to help your pastry rise and yield a flaky texture.
    You can grate butter when you have time and mix it with some flour then freeze those butter curls. This way you can bake anytime you want and your butter is sure to be cold enough every time.
  • If it’s warm where you live or if you feel your pastry starts to melt at any point during preparation, let it chill in the fridge for 20-30 minutes or so then continue.
  • And be sure not to over-handle the pastry! That causes a separation of fat from butter to cause oily results.

Gemma’s Pro Chef Tips

• You can use store-bought puff pastry, or make your own with The Easiest Puff Pastry Recipe.
• If you don’t have pie weights, use dried beans, rice or granulated sugar when blind-baking the crust.
• Vegan sausage can be used instead of regular sausage to make it vegetarian. And don’t forget to check out my Vegan Cheese Recipe.
• Feel free to use other savory add-ins, like crisp crumbled bacon, prosciutto, diced ham, or Canadian bacon, sauteed onion and pepper, or spices like oregano, basil, chives, or rosemary.
• Parmesan cheese, ricotta or mozzarella on top is a lovely extra touch as well. For a creamier and slightly tangy option, try my Garlic and Herb Cream Cheese, Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Cheese, Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese, or Garlic and Chive Cream Cheese.

More Savory Pastry Recipes

• Bacon and Cheese Breakfast Strata
• Microwave Mug Quiche
• Caprese Savory Tart
• Three Savory Pop-Tarts
• Easy Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole Recipe

Try These Recipes!

Wholesome Breakfast Pizza Recipe (No-Knead)

Whole Wheat Waffles Recipe (With Wheat Germ)

Healthy Bran Muffins Recipe

Easy Make Ahead Holiday Breakfast Ideas