Nectarine and sage tart
I’ve noticed that some fruits and vegetables are particularly popular among food bloggers. Once a certain fruit or vegetable is in season, you’ll see it taking all food blogs by storm in all kinds of different recipes. Using seasonal products in our cooking is absolutely normal, obviously, but it seems that some of these products are just a bit more “famous”.
Some fruits&veggies are just extremely photogenic! I can totally relate to all my fellow food bloggers who cannot resist their beauty and always try to add their own personal touch when using them in their cooking.
I can completely understand that and besides, it happens to me all the time whenever I see all my beautiful fruits and veggies laying on the kitchen counter, shining under the sunlight and calling my name! Is there anything more a food blogger could ask? All we need is a beautiful ingredient and the right light! Looking at them, I start thinking how fantastic they’d look on a wooden surface or on a different plate or, or.. There are so many things you can do, play around, cook, take pictures, anything your heart desires!
One of the ultimate “must do” recipes for any food blogger is, amongst other fruit recipes, a nectarine or peach tart before summer is over! And here’s why; these wonderful stone fruits –that I absolutely love and always feel disappointed when their season ends, like now- have the most beautiful peachy colour and look incredible in front of the camera! Oh, they’re also crazy delicious!
In my mind, peaches and nectarines are the synonym of summer and I honestly can’t think of any other fruit as juicy and inviting as them! They’re not just delicious though, they’re also super easy to carry around with you, at work, at the beach or anywhere else! Can you do that with a slice of watermelon?
I’m slowly starting to accept that summer is almost over and I haven’t done my duty to make a nectarine recipe yet (I just decided that I love nectarines more than peaches, writing can be very eye-opening!) so, it’s time to make my favourite tart today. Summer fruits are almost gone and I feel like it always takes a while for me to accept that, as if I’m trying to prolong their presence in our kitchen. Although every season has its charm, this transition from summer to autumn is definitely a hard pill to swallow. It won't take long until we forget that though, soon enough our baskets will be filled with wonderful autumn goods! I picked some of the last remaining nectarines of this season and here I am, making a nectarine tart!
As I was taking pictures of my nectarines, it suddenly hit me; my tart needed some extra “help” both in flavour and appearance. I thoroughly examined all our herb pots and my eye fell on the wonderful green-grey sage leaves! Our sage has grown so much lately, after all it’s in season now! I cut some of its tender leaves and I must say they added a truly unique scent and taste to my tart.
Ingredients
For a 20cm diameter tart:
For the dough:
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus some extra for kneading
2 level teaspoons salt
12tbsp cold butter
Seeds from a vanilla bean
1-2tbsp cold water
1 beaten egg
For the filling:
3 big, firm nectarines
1-2tbsp brown sugar
1tbsp flour
5-6 sage leaves
Method
1. Prepare the dough. In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, vanilla seeds and salt. Blend well and add cold butter in pieces. Using a fork or with your hands, blend the ingredients and add the first spoon of cold water. Make sure all the ingredients are well blended. Don’t work the dough too much, just until your ingredients are mixed. Then form a ball with the dough. Squeeze it lightly and wrap it in cling film. Leave it in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
2. Prepare the filling. Cut the nectarines in half and then into thin –but not too thin- slices. Leave them on kitchen paper to get rid of any excess of liquids. Add the slices to a bowl, sprinkle with brown sugar and flour and scatter some sage leaves. Set aside.
3. Prepare your baking surface by covering it with non-stick baking paper. Preheat the oven to 190C.
4. Flour the dough and place it between two pieces of baking paper. This will help us open the dough more easily. Start stretching out the dough with a rolling pin and give it a round shape. If it is a bit hard, give it a few moments to get warmer, but don’t let it rest too long. It has to remain cold with visible butter pieces that haven’t melted. That’s what will make our crust crispy. Once you have a round shape, about 2,5cm thick and 24-28cm wide, remove the bottom baking paper, place the dough on your baking sheet and remove the upper baking paper as well. Then start to quickly (so that the dough doesn’t get warm) add the nectarine slices evenly leaving 5cm distance from the sides. Start covering the sides of the tart with the part of the dough you’ve left uncovered. Spread the beaten egg with a brush and sprinkle with granulated sugar that will caramelize with the heat. At this point, you can ideally leave the tart in the refrigerator to rest for 10-15 minutes. This will help it maintain its shape. Bake for around 40’ until golden.
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