Here’s a twist on the traditional Nicoise salad, same ingredients used, but instead of a salad it’s put into a tart form that has a crispy phyllo dough crust. This is wonderful for a brunch or light dinner served with a green salad on the side.
The inspiration for this tart came after I received a beautiful Mediterranean basket filled with Genova tuna and lots of other goodies. I’ve always been a big fan of Genova tuna and have it stocked in my pantry on a regular basis, so I was excited to try this.
Genova tuna is certified wild-caught yellowfin, and it’s poached in pure olive oil and has no preservatives or additives, it’s all good!
The rich olive oil flavored tuna enhances this tart along with the other ingredients I used, tomatoes, green beans, olives, capers, peppers, hard-boiled eggs and roasted red potatoes.
Layered phyllo dough is the base for all the ingredients which get baked into a creamy egg and mustard mixture, this is over the top good!
Make this for your loved ones they’ll be glad you did!
And for your added pleasure, swipe a little pesto on top for a nice finish!
- I used a 7½ x 11½ inch tart pan with removable bottom, if you use a smaller one just adjust the ingredients.
- 1 can of Genova brand tuna packed in olive oil
- 3 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
- yellow, orange and red bell pepper, ¼ each, sliced thin into strips
- olives, pitted and sliced, kalamata or green, a good ½ cup
- capers, 1 or 2 tablespoons sprinkled about
- green beans, precooked, steamed, a good handful
- cherry tomatoes, sliced ½ cup to ¾
- tiny red potatoes, sliced the same size and roasted until slightly golden, 8 or 9 or enough to scatter about the tart pan.
- 6 to 8 layers of phyllo dough, each layer sprayed or brushed with olive oil
- FOR THE CREAM MIXTURE
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup half and half
- 1 heaping tablespoon Dijon mustard
- salt and pepper to taste
- Spray tart pan with olive oil, layer first sheet of phyllo, fitting it in around the tart pan. Spray or brush layer with olive oil, repeat until all 6 or 8 layers are used, if using a smaller tart pan adjust, keep in mind you want a nice crust that will hold all the ingredients.Place tart pan on top of a baking sheet for easy oven removal.
- Whisk eggs, cream and Dijon together then pour mixture into the tart pan.
- Arrange the ingredients on top of the creamy egg mixture, placing clumps of tuna all around. Arrange as you wish to fill in your pan, pressing down ingredients slightly to anchor into the mixture.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until egg mixture has set and phyllo is a nice golden color.
I’m Marie, a wife, mother, mother-in-law, and gramma of two beautiful girls. My passion is food, clear and simple but especially Italian food, hence the name of my blog, Proud Italian Cook. I want you to feel right at home here so grab a cup of coffee, I’ll get the pastries, take a look around and enjoy your visit! {
Made this for brunch this morning. Outstanding!
So glad you liked it Barb!
My favorite is anything with olives!!
Pesto with tomatoes and pasta. 🙂
Looks wonderful!! Both the tart and the basket!
Hard choice, but must say spanakopita or hummas or caprese etc…LOVE your blog!!
Charbroiled Pork or Chicken souvlaki with fresh tomatoes, olives and feta. All time fave!
I thoroughly enjoy a nice olive tapenade with feta, and kalamata olive bruschetta and a hit of ouzo!!!!!
Marinated Anchovies!
Well, pesto, of course. Pesto, pesto, pesto – a gift from the gods. And I discovered it all by myself, after reading a cookbook by a particularly lyrical Italian author – I ran out and found some sweet basil plants (hard to do in 1970), and made me a batch that I put on little egg noodles. I’ve never looked back – from then on, pesto is required. That is all.
Greek salad hands down….YUM!
I love chicken putanesca. Can’t live without capers!
Thanks for all of your wonderful recipes, this one is a must try for sure! As for Mediterranean food, lately I’ve been using Chickpea’s in several forms; whole in salads and panini’s and ground in hummus and spreads. Yum!
Hummus for sure as many different ones I can make – with homemade crackers
I love Gyros and hummus!
My favorite is chicken vesuvio.
I can’t wait to try this recipe 🙂 my husband won’t eat tuna but I think smoked salmon would make a nice subsitute!
I love fish and cheese!
Gyros are my all-time favorite!
Lebanese food is my favorite, whether it is stuffed kousa, (squash, ) kibba , (finely minced and seasoned lamb, (baked or raw) flat Lebanese bread, and the delicious cucumber sauce that goes with it all. Mint makes it all wonderful – – addicting, even! Just talking about it makes my mouth water! Plenty of oil and olives finish it delightfully. My happiest travel day is one in which I find a good Lebanese restaurant!
So many that I would love to metion: Med. Pasta Salad
Gosh… only one? Caprese Salad!
I haven’t had much Mediterranean food, but anything with olives sounds great.
We love capers!
Mediterranean, would have to be good olives, good cheese, good bread
, and good friends
Stuffed grape leaves are my favorite.
My favorite Mediterranean food is the Greek Gyro.
Without a doubt, my favorite Mediterranean food is freekah. It is a wondwerful “canvas” for all kinds of salads. Your Nicoise tart looks divine.
i’m enjoying your recipes, my favorite Mediterranean dish is pasta Fagioli.
Thank you even though I’m from montreal I still wanted to post something
Any kind of seafood dish! Shrimp scampi is comfort food for me!
grilled lamb chops!
I pretty much love everything Mediterranean! But I cannot live without good olives, capers, and artichoke hearts in my pantry! Love all your recipes–every one I’ve tried has been a keeper.
I love it all, but if I had to choose just one dish, it would have to be any seafood pasta Fra Diavolo; shrimp, lobster, calamari.
Only one is so difficult! Moussaka wins, though:)
I would have to say olives and anchovies would have to be my 2 favorite Mediterranean foods. And I like almost anything Mediterranean.
Chick peas. Love them.
I’m in UK and I know I can’t enter. But had to say my fave Mediterranean food, is YOURS. I so love your recipes, wonderful to look at and just as good to eat.
I adore olives and also capers in most everything a salad would require I also enjoy cheeses from Italy and some lovely fresh bread from Italy bakes in a pizza oven, a smidge of good olive oil, some slices olives, capers and some fresh mozzarella and I am in heaven…ciao!
Hmmm, I couldn’t decide between olive oil and basil, so let’s just call it fresh pesto! Mmmm! 😉
I love olives and feta cheese! But then, I just love to eat!
Anything with olives – and I adore feta as well. Your photography is amazing, as are your recipes!
I absolutely love your blog. I read it every week and have tried many recipes. They have all turned out fantastic! Thank you so much for sharing your skill and amazing creativity with me. You are making me a better cook. My favorite food is Greek shrimp.
Beautiful! And my favorite – olive oil – pure and simple. Un abbracacio forte!
Surprisingly, my favorite has nothing to do with meat or even veggies. I LOVE Grilled Garlic-And-Herb Flatbreads
Hello Marie! LOVE your dishes! They are ALL so inspiring! I don’t know the name of the dish but it is chicken, lemon, olive oil, garlic, oregano and thyme, … baked – sooooo yummy! If I chose one INGREDIENT it would have to be lemons – they add so much flavor – like garlic! But then again … I can’t get into the kitchen without using olive oil (a good quality one) in almost every single dish! But now, anything with tomatoes or a tomato sauce is my go to fav … too many to cull down to just one!!! Now lets talk desserts …. Baklava! No tiramisu! Oh wait … both! (Maybe I love food too much!)
My favorite is a good, earthy olive oil!
Only one??????? Olives today. Tomorrow…..
Baklava is my favorite. Thanks for the giveaway.
Definately olives, especially in a Greek salad MMMM
So hard to choose my favorite Mediterranean ingredient. But I’d have to go with olive oil. Not sure I could survive without it!
No doubt about it: olive oil!
Genova tuna salad with roasted red peppers
I love your recipes…they’ve all been winners! I have been cooking a Mediterranean type of diet for 30 plus years, since my first trip to Greece. Last year I was fortunate to do my dream trip to Italy. What an amazing country! Love that they cherish their food, and it’s sources. It’s hard to name a favorite, but I’m a real sucker for anything with truffles.
Majadra is our favorite Mediterranean dish.
Well, I’m a sucker for hummus but love spanakopita as well!
My favorite is quinoa salad with feta, sundried tomatoes, basil, cucumber and zucchini with lemon and lime juice.
Fresh Buffalo mozzarella with tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Had my first taste of fresh caught Tuna fish last summer in Italy. I never knew tuna tasted so good!
My favorite easy olives olives olives and a piece of breaD.
Looks like a pizza, could be done as focaccia, but is perfect as a tart! I would still serve with salad.
What a beautiful dish! There is no comparison Genova Tonno the king of tuna’s. My favorite Mediterranean dish which is where my momma’s from Brescia, Italy and have fond memories of is Rabbit sauteed in butter with her special herbs. She would roast potatoes in the same butter with fresh sage and rosemary being as patient as possible to make every piece perfectly crisp. To go with the rabbit and potatoes momma would make the most tasty, loving delicious dish of polenta. She would stir till just perfect. It would be soft and would put pieces of sausage in it and then she would brown butter in a pan and would pour over the polenta. Finally she finish it off with parmigiano reggiano cheese. The perfect combinations of my favorite meal with a glass of vino. Buon appetito!
FOR ME, MY FAVORITE WOULD PROBABLY HAVE TO BE OSSO BUCCO. BUT IT’S SO HARD TO SAY JUST ONE.
All of the above………how can one choose??? 😉 Okay….shrimp, garlic, lemon, tomatoes, kalamata olives, and at the lastmoment, feta, fresh basil and oregano…………all sizzling together!!!!!
This is gorgeous and would be great for brunch. Do you think it would work with a puff-pastry crust?
I don’t see why not Joan, let me know if you try it!
Favorite is Feta cheese, on/in everything!
I adore olives, and I have got make this!! it looks fantastic.
My all time favorite Italian dish would be sauteed olives. Just love them and love your blog!
Awesome! Could be tonight’s dinner! Another wonderful recipe to add to my list of favorites from you. Can’t wait to try this one.
As usual..I’m drooling at 6:30 am…that is one fine looking tart..and one certainly to be made by me…your photography is just awesome….Beautiful !
Spanakopita, Chicken, Salads with Feta and the cucumber dip. A nice giveaway.
There is no comparison to regular tuna! We love it and would not purchase anything else. I’m not familiar with that cookbook — but I love cookbooks and I read them and drool with what I want to make. Your recipe looks like a wonderful variation. Thank you for the opportunity to win the lovely basket.
Grazie e buona giornata!
Moussaka!!
Hi Marie,love your site, and would LOVE to win ANYTHING with a Chicago address!! Had to move to our house down here in SWFL,due to Dominicks closing(we both worked there).Anyway, there is NO COMPARASON to Chicago food shopping! I did bring some Genoa Tonna with me,& thank God too!!
Hi Marie! I think my favorite Mediterranean food is Farro. Its so quick and versatile. By changing up the ingredients and dressing you can have a different flavor profile each time. This tart looks delicious, can’t wait to make it!
It’s so hard to choose! But ever since I made your roasted butternut squash with blue cheese, roasted red grapes have become my number 1. Grapes came from the Mediterranean, right?
My favorite is Shrimp Saganaki. Thank you for the chance!
I can’t think of a favorite, I love it all. I love Genova Tonno and buy it when I can.
I LOVE Mediterranean food – or I guess I love foods that are commonly used in Mediterranean cooking: olives, lemons, olive oil, lamb, capers!!, fresh from the ocean seafood.
Penne Puttanesca. Since I had to pick one. But that’s veeerrryyy hard to do!!
My favorite Mediterranean food is one someone from Lebanon made me. It was shredded roast beef with okra and rice. I don’t know how to make it. It was so very good. I just keep eating it and asking for a little more. Someone whose mother is from the Middle East was going to set met up with his mother to make it, but she is now in Europe. So, I am still looking to make it someday. I don’t know what it is called, but it was delicious!
@JoAn – I think you may be referring to Bamia 🙂
OMGosh that is beautiful and a brilliant idea which I have never seen.
I like a lot of Mediterranean foods, I adore baklava.
Phyllo has to be my favorite Mediterranean ingredient. It’s so versital. You can use it with appitizers, breakfast, lunch, dinner and desserts. Veggies, cheese, meats, nuts, they are all better with phyllo.
I love lasagna with bolognese sauce.
I love all sorts of Mediterranean food. Currently I am using a lot of olives and capers in different recipes as well as lots of veggies. This tart sounds relish and I will be trying it soon.
pasta… any kind
Wow, Marie, this Tuna Nicoise Tart with Phyllo looks absolutely fabulous and I imagine it tastes the same. This would really make a nice brunch entree–I will have to do this at Easter!
Wonderful give away! I love all Mediterranean foods but I think my favorite would be fresh Buffalo Mozzarella and dry Calabrese sausage.
This recipe sounds delicious! My favorite recipes are anything with olives and sun dried tomatoes! Thank you for the giveaway! 🙂
My husband and I love the Mediterranean salad made with tuna, capers, red onion, grape tomatoes, lemon juice, olive oil and fresh dill. We serve it over greens with some yummy crusted bread to soak up the dressing. Can’t wait t try this tart though:-)
I love your recipes. You have such a wide variety of tasty dishes. My favorite is Mediterranean Shrimp with Pasta – with tomatoes, olives, feta ….delicious.
Olives . . . definitely olives!
My favorite Mediterranean food is artichokes…!
Love Mediterranean food. We love olives, all kinds of olives. I also love Souvlaki with a Greek salad.
Pan roasted chicken w crisp skin + lots of lemon + lots of garlic + lots of olive oil + oil cured black olives.
My favorite is anything seafood,with good olive oil and a few great olives sprinkled around it-would love to live by the sea and get fresh seafood!
I really like spanikopita!
My favorite Mediterranean food is is Pasta alla Puttanesca, which incorporates a bevy of Mediterranean ingredients. And it’s delicious with the addition of oil-packed, Italian tonno!
I love eggplant. I really can’t pick between eggplant parm and mousaka so I alternate between the two dishes. However, I do a phyllo, tuna, and cheese dish that people seem to like a lot and I serve it often in Lent.
I love tabbouleh salad, falafel, and stuffed grape leaves (dolmades) and anything made with eggplant.
I will make this the next time I have phillo. My favorite Mediterranean ingredient is capers.
Hi Marie – your recipes are great & this one is no exception! I make a pretty mean Tabouli or Tabbouleh, however one spells it! 🙂 There are lots of variations and besides eating it only as a salad, it’s really nice in a flour tortilla or a pita. The only fat in it is the olive oil, which is a good fat and with variations like tomatoes, cucumbers, etc, it makes a lovely lunch!
Lamb chops and lentils! That’s a beautiful tart!
My favorite Mediterranean food is sun dried tomatoes.. I love them in a salad, pasta or by themselves.
Baklava
My favorite Mediterranean food is simple: olives! I love olives and love to cook with them. We used to stick them on all ten fingers as kids and eat them and now I love including them in pastas and on pizzas and tarts. I also love tapanades. I’ve really started to get into them.
Looks delicious. I love green peppers stuffed with parmesan, mozerella, feta and spinach with a tomato herb sauce and an eggplant steak. Yum!
I’m going to have to go with pesto. I think I can taste the Mediterranean sunshine in it!
spanikopita or real Italian pizza!
That looks so delicious. My favorite is stuffed green pepper with spinach, parmesan, feta and mozerella with a tomato herb sauce and an eggplant steak. Yum!
I love, love, love anything witl olives of any color! Since your tart has olives and another of my faves, hard boiled eggs, this could very well become my new favorite. Can’t wait to try it!
I have used your recipes to make one of my favorites….fresh pasta. Went to Italy in 2013, and fell in love with the delicate fresh pasta sheets used in Lasagna Rosa. sigh. your blog posts take me back there!
Hi Marie! What a great looking tart…..and such an interesting idea! Really hard to pick ONE favorite, but I definitely can’t live without some good Sicilian olive oil!! And I love it drizzled over some charred bread with fresh, homemade ricotta!! YUM!!
Olives!!!!
I love Spanikopita and also baklava!! YUM!!
Couscous….and anything using shrimp and feta! Always a comforting dinner choice! Love your recipes Marie!
I do love tapenade and pesto. Your nicoise tart looks delish.
My favorite Mediterranean food is Shishkabab. Good marinated lamb and grilled, with a Fatosh salad., and a good pilaf. Yum!!! The best!! Love your blog and all your recipes. Thanks.
Beautiful tart, Marie! Has to be sunny lemons… especially on a day like today:)
Olives!
I love ALL Mediterranean cooking, but to narrow it down to one meal, I guess it would an outdoor summer grilled feast — this year I’d start off with your Nicoise tart for the antipasto, then grilled lamb chops, fresh veggies from the garden of eggplant, zucchini, sweet red peppers, green peppers, onions, garlic tossed in olive oil and grilled to al dente, add a salad of fresh tomatoes, home-grown basil and buffalo mozzarello, and finish off with grilled nectarines, peaches, and a scoop of gelato… and don’t forget the limoncelli! Of course, this is a long afternoon into evening dinner with good friends and happy laughs!!!
Omg I’m coming!
This is a really hard choice. I’m going with versatile cannellini beans, My father’s family came from a village (Ponticino) near Arezzo in Tuscany. Tuscans were known as “bean eaters”. I’m certainly helping to keep the tradition alive.
Ha, I just made some today Diane, and posted it on my Instagram tonight!
I love Nicoise Salad so I am sure this would be delicious. Genova is the brand I use. Same as my mom used! Perfect timing for a Lenten meal, yea still don’t eat meat on Fridays. I know, old school… Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Made this today and love it! I will make it again for Ash Wednesday lunch – remember no meat!
Wow that was fast Joe! So happy you liked it!
My all time favorite – just plain, simple olives. I remember my mom allowing us on the holidays to put them on the tips of our fingers (with washed hands of course) and pop them into our mouths. We would sneak them constantly and there were barely any left by the time the meal rolled around. Nice memories…………………………………….
I love mediterranean food. Spanakopita is one of my favorites.
My favorite Mediterranean dish is moussaka. It is versatile and I have never met a man who didn’t like it!
For me, fresh tuna in olive oil does it every time! I can’t wait to try your tart. It looks divine!
Cheese saginaki and baked feta, olives and tomatoes.
Love your recipes and the great pictures! Spanakopita or any of its versions are my favorites.
Great olives!!!
Tuna Nicoise is one of my favorite seafood dishes (and probably the only one I do well). I make different variations of it depending on seasonal produce but I really like the idea of this tart and it is more versatile. Italian tuna is one of my favorites, a little hard to find in my area, but when I do find it, I stock up!
This tart looks amazing! I have just recently switched over to a Mediterranean diet to be healthier so winning this would be amazing! My favorite Mediterranean dish is seafood paella!
Lemon-Stuffed Grilled Branzino! Branzino 100 different ways, olives, phyllo dough and feta cheese!
Burrata!
I’m a huge fan of Genova tuna, for those who haven’t tried it yet, Costco sells a package of 6 cans. Favorite Mediterranean ingredient… Olives, love them with salad, eggs, tuna, swordfish, chicken!
This looks wonderful Marie. I would never have thought of making a tart with those ingredients, but YOU sure did! I too, like to use Tonnino tuna from Italy, but would be hard pressed to name just one dish that’s my favorite from the Mediterranean. But a seafood and pasta dish would be high up there.
My favorite Mediterranean dish is pasta del mare–I love how the seafood influences the tomato sauce and it reminds me of holiday dinners with family! 🙂
olives!!
Hard to narrow it down- but Greek Style Shrimp has to be one of my favorites- Shrimp, Feta cheese, Roma Tomatoes, and lots of Olive Oil and Garlic. And some delicious bread to sop it all up! Anything with feta is good in my book.
Thanks for all the delicious recipes!
i just love your blog and recipes! I love all Mediterranean food! Olives, capers, roasted pepper tapenade,etc!
My favorite Mediterranean food has got to be good, fresh-pressed olive oil that you get at the beginning of the
olive oil season. The taste is to die – for-nothing comes close to it! you can put it on bread; just sip it;
pour it over branzino. Just delicious!
There are so many but the Genova tuna was what my mother bought. Mixed with finely chopped onion and a bit of oregano, it was our Italian tuna fish salad. Didn’t know there was any other kind til late teens. Still my prefrred way to eat tuna.
I love a good greek chicken on the grill with roasted greek potatoes on the side. The more lemon, garlic and oregano the better!!!
Olive oil, use it all the time! Seriously it is hard to pick only one, but life would be very different without olive oil. thank you.
My favorite – olives and anything derived from olives – oil, tapenade, food cooked with olive oil!
My favorite Mediterranean food is Greek Chicken, loaded with lemon, garlic and oregano – the more the better. Thanks for the chance to win! I’d give that basket a good home – promise!
I love Mediterranean flavors and any thing with olives in it!!! What a wonderful giveaway!!!
this looks so good…you have the best recipes!
Olives..olives OLIVES!! 😀
When I eat at this little Mediterranean place by my house I have a mixed platter of rice, pastitisio, spanakopita, and dolmates. All my favorites!
My favorite Mediterranean ingredient is Olives! My kids love all kinds, and in my house we eat them for dessert too! Thanks!
PS where are the ANCHOVIES on the Nicoise Tart! haha! I know how much you love them! 🙂
I only buy TONNINO tuna, we love it!
I will be making this for sure, it has my name all over it!
(I need that cod recipe w/ the “shingled potatoes” for this weekend please!). xo
I can’t run my kitchen without olive tapenade and anchovies! Can’t wait to try this dish.
Osso bucco for me!
Anything with; Cous cous, olives, sun dried tomatoes and chicken 🙂
I love all Mediterranean foods, but olives are my number one ingredient because they are so delightful and versatile.
Olives! Olives! Olives!
My all time favorite is what I call Chicken Rustica. Skin on chicken pieces ,roasted with lemons halves and whole bulbs of garlic cut in half coated with evoo, with oregano, Rosemary, thyme, kosher salt and red onions. When it is done, crisp brown, I squeeze the juices of the lemon and the soft, fragrant garlic all over the chicken..just delicious!
By the way, I was born in little Italy in the north end of Boston, and I am always promoting your recipes. One of my fav , pork chops marsala. ☺️ Usually Italians have their own arsenal of recipes and won’t deviate, but I really enjoy some of your unique recipes with a twist. Thanks for your inspiring posts. P.s. Don’t think my email is working ?, that’s ok just wanted to drop by anyway
Lucy Paone Zappala, I love, love, love Marcella Hazan’s famous melt in your mouth roast chicken with lemons. Are all the ingredients you listed placed inside the Chicken Rustica?
Actually no. I should have mentioned I dry the chicken skin well then coat each piece with evoo, I usually rub the oregano and kosher salt on the chicken. And tie a bouquet garni of the thyme and rosemary sprigs and let it sit in the juices as it roasts. I cut the lemons in half put them in the roasting pan but for the garlic I cut the bulb in half horizontally ( leaving skins intact) then pour some evoo on the tops and wrap them in foil ( this insures that the garlic is moist and easy to squeeze) put them in the roasting pan. When done roasting, I remove them from the foil and squeeze over the chicken , then squeeze the juices from the lemon also.
Thanks Lucy. I’m drooling.
You welcome..enjoy your day..we are buried in snow !!
Looks amazing! I can’t think of a Mediterranean food I DON’T like! But if I had to choose just one it would be olives and anything with olives in it!
My favorite is Tabbouleh salad!
This looks fabulous… My favorite go to appetizer: roasted red pepper dip with pitas!
what a great giveaway! right now i have to say my favorite is spanakopita!
Another wonderful recipe Marie! As wonderful as all my Italian dishes are that I mainly cook, I just cannot pass up a good Greek chicken souvlaki dish. It’s my favorite Mediterranean meal. Perfectly marinated lemon chicken in rosemary, sautéed onions and peppers, on a warm and toasty falafel or pita and I’m in heaven. What an amazing basket giveaway! Fingers crossed.
easy…capers!!!
This looks positively awesome! My favorite Mediterranean ingredient is olive tapenade. Thanks so much!
My favorite Mediterranean dish is grilled calamari salad with wonderful balsamic dressing. Awesome!
My favorite is my three hour gravy — tomatoes, beef, sausage, garlic, oregano, lot of stirring to be sure it is perfect! I love it because if I am doing that much gravy, that means the family or wonderful friends are their to enjoy it with me. It is a slow cooked meal that is served with love.