I’m not much of a pastry chef, but I decided to make this on a lazy Sunday for afternoon tea. I was blown away at how easy and therapeutic it was. It would be a beautiful weekend lunch with a small salad and some prosciutto. It was lovely the next day at work too. I have used half the quantities of the original recipe yet would still feed 4 (I made Pignolet’s tarte tatin with the left over pastry for dessert).
Serves 4
½ quantity Damien’s pâte brisée (shortcrust pastry)
450 ml cream (35% fat)
½ small brown onion, finely diced
1 small fresh bay leaf (I had difficulty finding a fresh leaf, so used dried instead)
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
A few gratings of nutmeg
3×65g eggs
1. Dust a rolling pin and clean work surface lightly with flour and roll out the pastry. The rolling action is a combination of downward pressure and while rolling the pin away from you; go slowly, lifting, turning and lightly dusting both the pin and the bench with flour until the pastry is about 5mm thick and the desired shape is achieved. Dust off the pastry with a pastry brush.
2. Place the pin at the edge of the pastry and roll the dough around it to enable you to transfer to a tart tin (Pignolet suggests a loose bottomed 26 – 28 cm tin that is 3cm deep with fluted sides – this is for double the quantity I have used – I instead used an 18cm plastic number, with 3cm depth). Loosely unroll the pastry over the tin, then loosen it around the edges so that it will fall into the depth of the tin. Trim the excess pastry around the perimeter, leaving an overhang of about 1.5cm. Fold this back into the tin, keeping the edge raised slightly above the rim. Flour your fingertips and compress the edges together to achieve an even height to the walls. Dust off any surplus flour and prick the bottom of the tart shell all over with a fork.
3. Line the pastry shell with a piece of foil large enough to protect the top of the walls then put it into the freezer for 20 minutes before baking. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 190ºC.
4. Fill the shell with pastry weights or dried beans and bake for 10 minutes or until the walls appear to be set. Carefully remove the foil and weights and continue to cook until some colour is evident.
5. Reduce the temperature to 170ºC and bake until well-coloured, reducing the temperature as necessary to avoid burning – the aim is to thoroughly cook the pastry to a crisp, slightly flaky texture and a pale caramel colour. When it is ready it should feel dry and sound hollow when gently tapped.
6. While the tart shell is baking, bring the cream, onion, bay leaf and seasonings very slowly to a boil then use a simmer mat to control the heat while they gently infuse for 10 minutes (I don’t have a simmer mat instead I just turned the heat right down and lifted it off the gas every now and then). In a large heatproof bowl, beat the eggs until pale but not too frothy. Return the cream to a boil and pour into the eggs, stirring constantly. Strain through a fine sieve.
7. The next step ensures the pastry will remain crisp when serves. Slide out the oven rack supporting the tart shell and carefully ladle the hot custard into the shell, filling it to the brim; now gently slide the rack back, reduce the oven temperature to 160ºC and bake for 15 – 20 minutes, or until a knife tip inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove the rest for 10 minutes before unmoulding.
Damien Pignolet’s cookbook, French, is divine. It is one of the most beautifully presented and organised cookbooks I have come across. Pignolet is the executive chef at Bistro Moncur, and is one of Australia’s most respected, classically trained French chefs. He is renowned for his attention to detail, a quality that is evident throughout his book. This is a must-buy for any cook who wants to learn and understand French cooking; it is written in the style in which professionally trained chefs learn to cook.