I am a nectarine tart and I am easy to make. I am adapted from Amanda Hesser’s “Cooking For Mr. Latte” (her recipe is for a peach tart) but, if you ask me, I’m much prettier than a peach tart. A peach tart would be a homogeneous glop of orangey yellow fruit; I, on the other hand, am a homogeneous glop of orangey yellow fruit with hints of red. Those hints of red make me magnificent.
The most shocking thing about me (besides my time served at Sing Sing) is how easy I am to make. Most tarts intimidate with the dough assembly, the refrigeration, the rolling it out, the getting it into the pan. Not so with me: to make a tart like me, all you do is dump a bunch of stuff into a tart pan (or, if you don’t have a tart pan, an 8 X 8 square pan will work too), stir it together, press it into the corners and cut off the excess. To be more specific: in the pan, stir together 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon sugar. In a separate bowl, mix together 1/2 cup olive oil or vegetable oil (I’m made from olive oil and it makes my taste elusive!), 2 Tbs milk, and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. Pour the wet stuff over the dry stuff, mix gently with a fork, and when it comes together push it out so it comes to a height of about 3/4 inch (or, if using a tart pan, til it comes up the sides of the tart.)
Now’s the easy part. Take five peaches or nectarines (or, according to Amanda, you can also use apples, pears, apricots or plums), peel them, and slice them thickly (about 6 slices per fruit). Arrange the nectarines over the pastry, fit them in snugly.
In a separate bowl, mix together 3/4 cups sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 2 Tbs cold unsalted butter. Squish it all together with your fingers until it becomes crumbly–like a bowl of tiny pebbles.
Sprinkle those pebbles over the fruit in the pan and place it in the oven (preheated to 425) for 35 to 45 minutes, until it’s shiny and there are thick bubbles and the crust is a golden brown. Cool on a rack and that’s it!
You can serve me with ice cream or whipped cream; just don’t serve me with court papers, I don’t want to go back to Sing Sing! Hope you enjoy me.
Adam – are you going to tell us anything about your adventures on the Cape? I was there around the same time as you, and was hoping to be brought back through your pictures (and also be shamed by all the yummy things you cooked that I didn’t). Anyway – love the tart!
I think I like your quirky posts the best. Nectarine Tart, you look delicious.. but I wonder what landed you in Sing Sing in the first place?
(I’m pretty sure there’s a lady-of-the-night joke in here somewhere… tart..? Get it?)
what a gorgeous presentation! (I was going to say “gorgeous tart” but that might be misconstrued somehow. :)
This recipe kinda reminds of a Jacques Pepin recipe where he caramelizes the syrup that comes with canned peaches to create a fruity sauce, which is then served with brioche.
CARAMELIZED PEACHES
Adapted from ”Jacques Pépin’s Fast Food My Way” (Houghton Mifflin)
Time: 20 minutes
1 29-ounce can peaches in heavy syrup (about 8 peach halves and 1 cup of syrup)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon Cognac
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
4 slices ( 1/2 inch thick) brioche or pound cake
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped pistachio nuts.
1. Drain peaches, pouring syrup into a skillet. Place skillet over high heat. Cook until syrup is caramelized (thick and light golden brown), about 10 minutes, stirring gently toward end of cooking so caramel does not burn around edges.
2. Add peaches to caramel. Stir in cream. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to bowl, and allow to cool.
3. Stir in Cognac and lemon juice. If mixture is too thick, add 1 to 2 tablespoons water. Cover, and refrigerate until serving.
4. To serve, toast brioche slices, and place one on each of four dessert plates. Arrange 2 peach halves on top of each slice, and top with a spoonful or two of sauce. Sprinkle with pistachios, and serve.
Yield: 4 servings.
(copied from a NY Times article I’m Cooking As Fast As I Can by William Grimes)
Am I the only one who snickered at the thought of an “easy tart”? Looks delicious though.
i’ve made amanda’s peach tart dozens of times — with peaches, nectarines, apricots, pears, apples, raspberries, blackberries, and rhubarb, depending on the season and my audience. always fantastic, always a hit.
Adam-
It took me a couple days to finish going “Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm……” after seeing this and then going home that night and making it myself. We had an inpromptu dinner party. Literally. I knew we had some left over farm fresh nectarines from Lake Chelan (in Central Washington) that we had purchased two weeks before when we were there for labor day weekend. I left the skins on, which gave it a more rustic approach. And I splurged a little by adding more almond extract (which was a very good choice and well received by my audience I might add). and there was only 1 slice left at the end of the night, as people were very generous with their portions, so I had it for breakfast yesterday. God it is so good.
Thanks for giving me a new, quick and delectable dish I can impress friends with. It took me about 10 minutes to pull together and I made it at the same time I was roasting the asparagus and reheating Ina’s famous Turkey sausage Lasagna I had made the week before.
What a hit! Don’t you wish you were there??!?!?!
-Siiri