I mentioned last time that we've been getting tons of produce from our local CSA. CSA, for those who don't know, stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and it's a group of folks who get together and team up with local farmers to get shares of delicious local produce. Our shares get delivered every week, and we get armloads of greens, herbs, veggies, and fruits, plus eggs, pasta, and bread. Every once in a while we special order farm-raised meat, which we all have enjoyed. It's fun -- every week is a little bit of a challenge figuring out what to do with, say, 45 little plums or 8 cucumbers. I find that making a list of things I want to cook is helpful.
(That was this chard/zucchini tart, these zucchini pancakes, this carrot/feta salad, this Moroccan tomato soup, and these zucchini blossoms. All really, really good, and all blogged about by better chefs and bloggers than I. More on the borscht and mac 'n cheese later.)
So, yeah, I had handfuls and handfuls of yummy purple plums to deal with. My first instinct with fruit is just to eat it as it is, but I didn't want to get indigestion from all the plums we had. I needed a dessert for a friend who was coming over for dinner, so into this tart they went.
The tart is pretty easy. The dough is fairly foolproof - it seems as though it doesn't have nearly enough sugar, but the dusting of sugar it gets before going into the oven turns it into a crispy, crunchy treat. I didn't use as much sugar as the recipe calls for, since I am not one for super sweet desserts. Plus, that way the vanilla ice cream the tart calls for works that much better with it!
Plum Tart
Adapted from the New York Times
Serves 6
Dough
1 c flour, plus more for rolling dough
1/4 t salt
1/4 t sugar
6 T cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch slices
1/4 c ice water
Filling
2 1/2 T flour
8-10 T sugar
1 lb plums (I used small purple ones), pitted and quartered
1. To make the dough, combine the flour, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl. Add half the sliced butter and combine with your hands (or a pastry cutter, but hands were pretty easy) until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the remaining butter and combine until the dough forms chunks the size of large peas. Add the water and combine until a dough forms, adding a bit more water if necessary. Shape into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least one hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a circle about 15 inches in diameter. It's okay if your "circle" is a hideous shape that was not taught in school. Put the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (this is important - I tried it with aluminum foil once and the sugar stuck to the foil) and refrigerate for 10 minutes.
3. To make the filling, combine the flour with 3 T of sugar. Sprinkle over the dough, leaving a 2-inch border. Lay the plums over the flour/sugar mixture in an even layer. Sprinkle the plums with 3-4 T sugar - it looks like a lot, but you basically want the plums to have a nice thick coating of sugar.
4. Fold the 2-inch border over the plums, gathering and pinching to fit and hold it together. Brush the edge of the pastry with water and sprinkle 3 T sugar over it. Don't skimp here!
5. Bake until plums are tender and pastry is well browned with spots of caramelized sugar, 45-50 minutes. Slide the tart from the pan onto a rack. Using a pastry brush, brush the top of the tart with some of its juices to glaze. Allow the tart to cool. Serve it with vanilla ice cream.
