A tale of Two

Both Anne and Philine are enthusiastic fans of all sorts of pumpkin. Finally, supermarkets are offering those at a reasonable price again and we must indulge in this hearty vegetable as long as seasons allow us to. We could have presented endless lists of recipes containing squash, but here we go with simple, mild and delicious pumpkin tart.

PUMPKIN TART.

flour – 300 g
sugar – 100 g
butter – 150 g
egg – 1

pumpkin, butternut – 1 kg
eggs – 3
caster sugar – 100 g
hazelnuts, grounded and toasted – 80 g
a pinch of salt
grated zest of one lemon
crème fraîche – 180 g

For the dough: Put the flour and sugar in a bowl. Cut the butter into small cubes and add them to the bowl. Make sure your hands are as cold as they can get and start crumbling the butter into the flour.  The more contact the dough has with the warmth of your hands, the more the butter will melt and your pastry will turn out the less flakier than aimed.

Add the egg and knead until the mixture just forms a dough. Turn pastry onto a floured surface and lightly knead with the heel of your hand until the pastry comes together. Cover the pastry with a plastic wrap and chill.

Roll pastry, using a rolling pin, on a lightly floured surface to 3mm thick. Line your baking dish. You won’t need to brush them with butter, for the pastry is quiet buttery enough. Put the baking tin back into the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 180° C.
Line the tart tin with the pastry. Line the pastry case with a greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans or uncooked rice and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the content. Meanwhile, core and cut the pumpkin into cubes and gently steam the flesh. Purée the cooked pumpkin until very smooth. In a bowl beat the eggs, sugar and hazelnuts. Add about 500 g pumpkin purée. Add the salt, lemon zest and crème fraîche. Pour this filling into the pasty case and bake for 40 minutes.