Cheesy Puff Pastry Potato Tart

A crispy and flaky puff pastry tart with prosciutto cotto (Italian ham), oozy fontina cheese and potatoes. This tart is easy to make, filling, satisfying and unbelievably good. Suited to lunch, dinner or an antipasto.

Welcome to double carb, cheesy goodness. This puff pastry potato tart is such a good thing to make if you have guests coming round (it's so good with drinks and other nibbles) or as a light lunch or dinner.

We use store-bought puff pastry as it's so quick and easy, prosciutto cotto (Italian ham) and one of our favourite Italian melting cheeses, fontina!

We've tested this recipe with both waxy and floury potatoes and both work well so use whatever you have to hand.

Below we've got some ingredient substitutions, good nibbles and drinks you can serve it with and variations to try. For the full written recipe, see the recipe card below and enjoy!

Ingredient notes and substitutions

• Puff pastry – We buy this in a ready rolled out rectangular sheet. If you buy yours in a block roll it out about 4mm (over 1/8 inch) thick. The sheet we use is about 30x20cm (8×11.5 inches).
• Prosciutto cotto – this is Italian ham but use whatever ham you have and like to eat.
• Fontina cheese – We love fontina because it still has a lot of flavour when melted. Another good substitute is gruyere (we've used this a lot) or comet. You want to use a semi-hard cheese that melts well.
• Potatoes – again, we've used both floury and waxy potatoes for this. Recently, we've been using maris pipers which are pretty similar to Russet in the US.
• Parmigiano Reggiano – We use this for coating the potatoes (so good) you could also use Pecorino Romano.

Visual walk-through of the recipe

See our step-by-step photos below to give you a visual representation of the recipe. The full written recipe with our top tips can be found in the recipe card below.

1. Cut and cook potatoes – wash and peel the potatoes then cut them into small cubes about 1cm in size. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it well, par-boil the potatoes for 10 minutes then drain them in a colander (photos 1-3).

1. Prep the pastry base – using a fork, prick a border around the pastry about 1 inch wide then prick randomly around the base. Cover the inside of the pastry with slices of ham (we find 4 slices to be enough) making sure you leave the border free then top the ham with grated fontina cheese (photos 4-6).
2. Add the potatoes – add the drained potatoes to a large mixing bowl and add a good pinch of salt, a drizzle of olive oil and the grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Toss everything together then layer the potatoes on top of the ham and cheese (photo 7).

1. Brush and bake – fold the edges of the pastry up and pinch it place then brush the edge with beaten egg (photo 8). Bake in the oven at 180C/350F for 35-40 minutes until the crust the golden brown and potatoes cooked through. Let it sit for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

Swaps

• Herby potatoes – you could toss the potatoes in a finely chopped woody herb such as rosemary or thyme.
• Breadcrumbs – We've occasionally tossed the potatoes in a few tablespoons of breadcrumbs and parmigiano before layering on top of the tart. It adds a little extra crunch which is nice.
• Ham alternatives – you could use prosciutto crudo (cured) or parma ham instead of cooked ham.

Nibbles and drinks to serve with it

We love to serve this cheesy potato tart as an aperitivo with other nibbles and drinks. See some of our favourites below.

Antipasti

Marinated Olives – Ready In 5 Minutes

Drinks

The Sbagliato Rosso

Antipasti

Italian Tuna Stuffed Cherry Peppers

Drinks

Pomegranate Spritz

Ingredients

Makes 8 servings

• 680 g (1.5 lbs) potatoes ((4 medium sized))
• 1 sheet ready rolled puff pastry ((320g/11 oz))
• 4 slices prosciutto cotto (Italian ham)
• 160 g (2.5 cups) Fontina cheese (grated)
• 30 g (1/2 cup) Parmigiano Reggiano (finely grated)
• 1.5 tbsp olive oil
• 1 beaten egg (for brushing)
• salt
• olive oil

Equipment

• Baking tray
• Baking parchment

Method

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it well. Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F and line a large baking tray with parchment paper.

2. Wash and peel the potatoes then cut them into small cubes, about 1cm in size. Par-boil the potatoes in the boiling water for 10 minutes, then drain them in a colander.

3. Lay the puff pastry sheet on your baking tray. Using a fork prick a 1 inch border around the pastry then prick the inside of the base a few times.

4. Leaving the border free, lay slices of ham all over the base (we find about 4 slices enough). Then cover the ham in grated fontina cheese.

5. Put the drained potatoes in a large mixing bowl and add a good pinch of salt, a drizzle of olive oil and the grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, toss to combine.

6. Lay the potatoes all over the ham and cheese. Fold the edges of the pastry up and crimp it slightly (similar to a galette or crostata, see photos for reference) then brush the edges with beaten egg.

7. Bake the tart in the oven for 35-40 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the potatoes cooked through. Let it sit for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

Kitchen notes

• Puff pastry If you buy yours in a block roll it out about 4mm (over 1/8 inch) thick. The sheet we use is about 30x20cm (8x11.5 inches).
• Preparing in advance you can prep and assemble the tart in advance and store it in the fridge (don't brush the pastry with egg though). Remove it from the fridge 30 minutes before baking, brush with egg and bake.
• Leftovers leftovers will keep well for up to 3 days in the fridge.