There is nothing that beats a lemony, zesty tarte citron with a delicious thin crust. But the addition of extra virgin olive oil and fleur de sel add a further complexity to the already sublime combination of lemon, eggs, butter and sugar.
This recipe by Melissa Clark, from her book 'Dinner in French: my recipes by way of France',
calls for Meyer lemons which is a hybrid lemon with mandarin/pomelo and is native to China.
Less astringent than Lisbon lemons or Eurekalemons, they have a bright, sweet and floral taste. If you do not have access to Meyer lemons, mix equal parts orange or mandarin with your lemon juice.
I have used Grande Cuvée Gerbaud AOP Provence olive oil which is a fruity green extra virgin olive oil. The recipe is relatively easy but the dough is soft despite being chilled for hours and a tad tricky to work with. I baked the tarte citron in a long perforated tin as I wanted to try it out but next time I would stick to a conventional round tin for a better pastry and filling ratio. That is more filling to less crust.
Dough ingredients
195g all-purpose flour plus more for rolling
50g almond flour
25g sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
113g cubes of cold unsalted butter
1 large egg slightly beaten with 1 tablespoon of cold water
Filling ingredients
5 to 6 Meyer lemons or the mix of citrus juices mentioned above
8 large eggs
200g sugar
113g cubed unsalted butter
60ml extra virgin olive oil
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
Fleur de Sel for serving (optional)
Whipped crème fraîche for serving (optional)
Method
Make the dough: Combine the flour, almond flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. Pulse to mix in the almond flour. Add cubes of butter and pulse till it resembles large crumbles. Drizzle in slightly beaten egg and pulse again till dough comes together. Add a little water if needed until it just holds together. Form the dough into a 2-3cm disc and wrap it in plastic wrap.Chill the dough for at least an hour in a fridge.
Make the filling: Grate the zest of five lemons and keep to one side. Juice the zested lemons to make one cup of lemon juice. Use the sixth lemon of you need more.
In a large heatproof bowl whisk the eggs well. Use a cloth underneath the bowl to keep it steady. Put a medium-sized pot on medium heat and add together the lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, butter, olive oil and fine sea salt. Heat the mixture till it is simmering. Add a third of the heated mixture into the beaten eggs whilst whisking constantly. This tempers the egg mixture. Return the egg and lemon mixture to the pot over a medium to low heat and stir constantly with a spatula or wooden spoon until the crud thickens. Test it on the back of the spatula or spoon to see if it coats the back. Strain into a medium bowl and set it aside to cool.
Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface to form about a 33cm circle and about just over half a centimetre thick. Line a 25cm tart pan with the pastry, trim the edges and prick the dough all over with a fork. Chill the pastry shell for at least thirty minutes. Heat the oven to 175-180ºC.
Line the tart shell with foil and pour in your baking weights. This can be either ceramic beads, dried beans or rice. Bake for 15 mins. Remove the weights and foil and bake for another 5-10 mins until the crust is golden brown. Cool the tart tin on a wire rack for about five minutes. Reduce the temperature to 165ºC.
Pour the curd into the tart shell, smoothing the top. Bake until the filling is set, trembling slightly in the middle when the pan is shaken for about 45 to 55 minutes. The curd could brown slightly. Cover the pastry edges to prevent over browning
Cool the tart on a wire rack till it is completely cold. Before serving, sprinkle Fleur de Sel on top if you wish. Serve with crème fraîche if you like.
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