Sweetie is getting closer to a round-number birthday, but still isn't there as he celebrated his natal day this past weekend. Along with a breakfast celebration with our younger neighbors and a brunch on Sunday that included a corned beef meal for one of the group, he has been duly birthdayed. I think there may even have been an Irish Coffee in there somewhere.
He requested a lemon pie or tart, so I made him this fairly easy and very delicious one. You can create your own tart base from your favorite tart dough, but I was feeling lazy, so I just put a round of prepared pie dough from the refrigerator case at our local market (Pillsbury ReadyCrust) into the tart pan, folded the excess into the inside edge, pressed those two layers together against the sides and then blind baked it. That's about as easy as it gets.
The filling takes a bit longer because you have to separate eggs, grate lemon zest, juice lemons, and then mix those and a few other things (like extra virgin olive oil which gets whisked in last) together and cook until thickened and hot. The cooked filling goes into the tart crust and then the whole thing bakes at a lower temperature than the tart base cooked at...but only for a short time.
They recommend cooling at room temperature on a cooling rack for 2 hours, but if you are running a bit behind, I think a short time in the fridge at the end...maybe after an hour on the counter...should work just as well and cut off about a half hour cooling time.
You can serve this with berries or whipped cream garnish, but it is so flavorful that you really don't need anything but a nice slice of this delicious tart. Happy Birthday Sweetie!
Lemon-Olive Oil Tart - "An Easy and Modern Lemon Tart"
From Cook's Illustrated magazine, March-April 2019
Crust (I used a Pillsbury ReadyCrust round sheet of pie pastry instead and baked at 400 degrees F)
1 1/2 cups (7 1/2 oz.) all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons (2 1/4 oz.) granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons water
Adjust the oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Whish flour, sugar, and salt together in a bowl. Add oil and water and stir until uniform dough forms.
Using your hands, crumble three-quarters of dough over bottom of 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Press dough to even the thickness in bottom of pan. Crumble remaining dough and scatter evenly around edge of pan. Press crumbled dough into fluted sided of pan. Press dough to even thickness. Place pan on rimmed baking sheet and bake until crust is deep golden brown and firm to touch, 30 to 35 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.
Filling
1 cup (7 oz.) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon table salt
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks (save whites for another use)
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (3 lemons) (I used two Meyer lemons and one Eureka lemon)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Have all the ingredients ready and at room temperature. About 5 minutes before crust is finished baking, whisk sugar, flour, and salt in medium saucepan until combined. Whisk in eggs and egg yolks until no streaks of egg remain. Whisk in lemon zest and juice. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly and scraping corners of saucepan, until mixture thickens slightly and registers 160 degrees F, in 5-8 minutes.
Off heat, whisk in oil slowly, until incorporated. Strain curd through fine-mesh strainer set over bowl. Pour curd into warm tart shell.
Bake at 350 degrees F until filling is set and barely jiggles when pan is shaken, 8 - 12 minutes.
Let tart cool completely on wire rack, at least 2 hours.
Remove metal outer rim of tart pan. Slide thin metal spatula between tart and pan bottom to release the tart, then carefully slide tart onto serving platter.
Cut tart into wedges, wiping knife clean between cuts if necessary, and serve.
Leftover can be wrapped loosely in plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 3 days.
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