08.05.07
Berry Tart
My first trip to the outdoor market at Place Monge (open Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday) was a success: I took a friend’s advice and went about an hour before it was closing town (things start to wind down around 1:30pm), and got some great deals on fresh fruits and vegetables. Ratatouille (zuchini, eggplant, red peppers, and tomatoes), leek soup, and green salads (two heads of lettuce for a euro!) are all on the menu for the next couple of days.
One fruit vendor was desperate to get his berries moving: he was selling each small basket (barquette) for a euro instead of 2.80. I bought 5: 3 strawberries and 2 blackberries. Granted, these fruits have seen better days, but they are perfect for a fruit tart, the recipe for which I’ve been developing in my head, with no hands-on experience yet.
So here’s my first version of my berry tart recipe:
What you need:
Lots and lots of assorted berries (about 2-3 pints)
Pâte brisée (I am cheating and buying this pre-made; it’s still amateur hour)
3 tablespoons polenta (to absorb extra liquid)
3 tablespoons sugar
2 eggwhites, beaten
2 tablespoons milk (I wanted to use cream, but had used the last drop in my coffee)
What to do:
~Pre-heat oven to about 180 C or 350 F
~Rinse the berries and remove the stems from strawberries. Chop any larger strawberries in half.
~Spread out the dough in a tart pan and sprinkle with the polenta. This is supposed to soak up extra liquid. I’ve also read about using crumbled cookies.
~Arrange the berries face-down on top of the dough.
~Sprinkle the berries with the sugar and drizzle the eggwhites on top.
~Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.
~Refrigerate for an hour.
~Serve cold, sprinkled with powdered sugar.
Better next time:
I’d like to try adding a taste of vanilla extract or vanilla-flavored sugar. I think the crumbled cookies would probably work better at soaking up the excess liquid, because this version was still a little runnier than I’d prefer. Not a bad first try, though, and this method is less complicated than most berry tart recipes I’ve found elsewhere.
To find an outdoor vegetable market in Paris, click here for a complete list by arrondissement.