Queen of Tarts

This week in our Back to Basics Cooking Series I’m going to explore the world of tarts. I have made a few of them from Simply in Season, but they are not a regular part of my repertoire. I’ve always been fascinated at the idea of making them more, and learning how to improvise recipes, possibly because of this poem:

The Queen of Hearts

She made some tarts,

All on a summer’s day;

The Knave of Hearts

He stole those tarts,

And took them clean away.

The King of Hearts

Called for the tarts,

And beat the knave full sore;

The Knave of Hearts

Brought back the tarts,

And vowed he’d steal no more.

Tarts must be pretty impressive if that Knave is stealing them! Plus they just sound so fancy. Yet, they are also versatile. Here’s what Alice Waters says about tarts in The Art of Simple Food:

A buttery crust with a savory or sweet filling, a tart is a perfect food in the same way a sandwich or pizza is. My favorite kind of tarts are the flat, crusty, round, and open-faced versions known as galettes. The pastry shell is rolled quite thin, topped with a filling of fruit or vegetables (only about twice as thick as the shell), and baked free-form. The galette is baked until it is crisp and golden and the topping is softened, its flavors concentrated–an ideal marriage of textures and flavors.

Put that way, I’m convinced this is something I need to learn how to do! Plus, imagine the possibilties. Wow your friends and families with whatever you have to use up made into a tart, or even more impressive-sounding, a “galette!” Imagine: apple tart, roasted peach tart, pecan tart, ginger-rhubarb tart, pesto tart, chocolate tart, red onion galette, tomato and cheese galette–it’s the perfect way to eat in season!

Ah, but there is one little catch. The crust. I hate making crust. Some people are afraid of yeast; I’m afraid of pie crust. And really, tart and galette are just fancy names for a one crusted pie. Sort of. More often than not I just buy organic frozen crusts at the store, always vowing to learn how to make and freeze my own because they are so darned expensive. Perhaps this is the week.

And so I turn to Mark Ruhlman for advice. In Ratio, he covers tarts in the chapter on Pie Dough. His ratio is 3 parts flour : 2 parts fat : 1 part water. For a tart, you’d use

• 9 oz flour
• 6 oz butter (1 1/2 sticks; or lard or shortening, cold, cut into small pieces)
• 2-3 oz ice water (less water if using butter as it already has some water in it)
• 1/2 tsp salt

 What I like best about this ratio is that it takes pies and tarts from being open-a-book, plan-in-advance items into the realm of spontaneity. Savory and sweet tarts can often be made simply with what’s on hand, say some onions and cheese. The discovery of fresh peaches or rhubarb at a farmer’s market can, on a whim, result in a pie later in the day. Pie shells and tart shells are vehicles for other ingredients. When you think of this dough as a vehicle, whole worlds open up to you. — Mark Ruhlman

Dough can be made ahead of time and refrigerated for two days or frozen for 2-6 months (thaw frozen dough in the refrigerator overnight before using).

Interestingly, while Ruhlman and Waters both talk about being able to spontaneously come up with tarts if you learn how to make the dough, I could find no references to what temperature and length of time are normally used, and the sample recipes are all over the place. I suppose one will eventually learn what temp and time for various sorts of tarts; for now, I think I’ll stick with using recipes until I feel confident enough to branch out.

This post shared at Kitchen Tip Tuesday