Savory & Sweet Tarts



pie wieghts to keep the crust from bubbling up

Before we went hiking this past weekend we all got togethere and had breakfast. I've been dying to break out the tart tins and pie weights my family got me for my birthday and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity.

We were getting up early for the hike so I made both the savory and sweet tart crusts the night before which worked out perfectly. The Savory tart was a pecorino and herb crust filled with goat cheese, heirloom tomatoes, and mushrooms. The Sweet Tart was a vanilla almond crust filled with lemon curd and berries, topped with whipped cream

Goat cheese Heirloom tomato tart

Pecorino Herb Crust:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
8 tbs butter; chilled
2 tbs pecorino; shredded
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp oregano
1 tbs parsley
3-4 tbs ice water

1   in a large bowl mix flours, salt, cheese, and herbs together
2   cut butter into small squares and put in with dry ingredients
3   using a pastry cutter or 2 forks cut in teh butter until only small pieces remain
4   drizzle the water into teh mixture 1 tbs at a time and mix; continue adding tbs
     of water until you can pinch the dough and it holds together
5   refrigerate for 10 minutes
6   grease 4 5" tart tins
7   smash the dough together into a ball, then divide into 4 even pieces
8   press each piece into a tart tin, bottoms and sides
9   refrigerate them while the oven preheats to 375 degrees F
10 press parchment paper into each tin, poke a few holes with a fork
11 cover the top of parchement paper with pie weights, or old dried beans, or pennies
(this is pictured above, it keeps the crust from bubbling up)

12 bake for 20-30 minutes, until they begin to golden

13 at this point you can continue on finishing them or put them in an airtight container, once they've cooled, overnight.

Filling:

4 oz goat cheese

1/4 cup cold milk

a few slices of mozzarella; cubed

1   with a fork whisk together the goat

cheese and milk

2   evenly distribute into the bottom of each tart

3   top with a few slivers each of mozzarella

Topping:

3/4 lb heirloom tomatoes; sliced

1/2 lb mushrooms; sliced

handful fresh chives; diced

handful fresh basil; diced

1   saute mushrooms until they are slightly browned 2   top each tart with mushrooms and tomatoes   

3   sprinkle the herbs on top and add some S&P

4   preheat oven to 375 degrees F

5   bake them for 30 minutes and serve warm

 The savory tart was stinkin' delicious! Oh man heavenly!

Fruit Tart

Vanilla Almond Crust:

1/2 cup butter; room temp
2/3 cup powdered sugar

1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla paste, or vanilla extract

1/3 cup ground almonds;

(I crushed mine in a baggie with a hammer and as I was finished Joshua finally
 realized what I was doing and suggested the coffee grinder, next time)
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups flour

1   in a large bowl beat the butter and powdered sugar together
2   then beat in the eggs, vanilla, ground almonds, and salt
3   slowly mix in the flour until everything is incorporated
4   smash the dough into a ball and refrigerate for 10 minutes (leave for an hour if making 1 large tart)
5   grease 4 5" tart tins (probably could stretch this to 6, I had some extra, or you could roll it out and make it into 1 large tart)
6   then seperate dough into 4 equal pieces and push into bottom and sides of tins (or roll out the dough for 1 large tart)
7   chill in refrigerator while oven preheats to 350 degrees F
8   place on cookie sheet and put in oven, bake for 15-20 minutes
9   let them cool before fillling or before putting them in airtight container overnight

(this dough doesn't rise the way the savory tart one did so you don't NEED pie weights, but you can still use them to be on the safe side, I did)

Filling:

8tbs lemon curd;

(I just bought some from Trader Joe's because it was cheaper than buying 4 lemons, but it pretty simple to make and can also be made ahead of time)

1   fill each tart with 2 tbs of lemon curd

Topping:

12-15 strawberries sliced

15-20 raspberries

15-20 blueberries

1   top each tart with and assortment of berries

1/2 cup whipping cream

1/2 tsp vanilla

1   beat whipping cream until it forms hard peaks

2   beat in vanilla

3   serve immediately on top of tarts