Pie crust.
Let’s see a show of hands from those of you who love love love the taste of a crisp and flaky homemade crust but find making it challenging–particularly during these hot summer months when those pea-sized balls of butter that are critical to a flaky crust melt into oblivion.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
Here is a great Alison Roman Blueberry Cornmeal Shortbread Tart recipe that features a wonderful press-in crust. No rolling here. As an added bonus, the tart is topped with a crisp crumble. The pie makes delicious use of fresh blueberries, is beautiful and is a breeze to make. What’s not to love?
You can find the original Alison Roman (New York Times) recipe here.
I’m a real fan of Roman’s work. She consistently creates delicious and inventive recipes and has a quirky sense of humor to boot. She is the author of a couple of excellent cookbooks, too–Nothing Fancy and Dining In. Both cookbooks are available at your local bookstore and through Amazon.
Here is how I prepared the tart in my kitchen.
Blueberry Cornmeal Shortbread Tart
Ingredients
- Shortbread Crust
- 1 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
- 1/3 C. cornmeal (I used fine white cornmeal)
- 1/3 C. powdered sugar
- 1/4 C. light brown sugar
- 1 t. baking powder
- 3/4 t. kosher salt
- 3/4 c. unsalted butter (melted and cooled)
- Filling
- 1 pound fresh blueberries
- 1/2 c. light brown sugar
- 2 T. fresh lemon juice
- 2 T. all-purpose flour
- Pinch of kosher salt
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Step 2 To prepare the crust (and the topping), whisk flour, cornmeal, powdered sugar, brown sugar, baking powder and salt together. Stir in the melted butter and then use your hands to mix the ingredients together thoroughly.
- Step 3 Divide the crust mixture in half. Press one half of the mixture evenly into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the mixture about 1/2 inch up the sides of the pan. Reserve the other half of the crust mixture for the topping.
- Step 4 Prepare the filling. Combine blueberries, brown sugar, lemon juice, flour and salt in a bowl. Pour this mixture into the pie crust you have prepared.
- Step 5 Sprinkle the reserved crust mixture over the top of the filling.
- Step 6 Bake the tart for about 45 minutes. You want the top to brown a bit and the filling should be thick and bubbling.
- Step 7 Remove the tart from the oven and let it cool completely before serving. The tart will become firmer and easier to cut as it cools.
