I’ve been looking for a great excuse to repost this blog on rustic tarts. Well, it being the eve of you-know-what, I don’t thing I even have to mention why you might want to totally distract yourself with an incredibly delicious cooking project. (Perhaps you don’t have a TV or the internet in your kitchen.) But even if you don’t feel like cooking today or tomorrow, chances are that either a sweet or savory tart might fit perfectly into one of your holiday menus. So, Ta da! A repost of where to find directions to all my yummy rustic tart recipes.
Sweet or savory, these open-faced pies can be everything from appetizer to dessert—and even breakfast. A couple years back, I wrote and photographed a story called “Tart Art” for Martha’s Vineyard Magazine, and now the recipes are all online. It’s a great place to go for my all-purpose, buttery, flaky dough recipe—and to find recipes for both my versatile fruit filling (apples, pears, or plums) and for two different savory fillings.
The fruit fillings work for sweet rustic tarts that are as delicious for dessert as they are the next day for brunch or an easy leftover breakfast. And if you’ve got a copy of Fresh from the Farm on hand, you can find one of my favorite variations in the recipe for Little Pear Crostatas with Hazelnut Crisp Topping. (Rustic tarts go by the name crostata in Italy and galette in France.)
The savory fillings I did for Martha’s Vineyard Magazine—Savory Cabbage, Apple & Cheddar and Savory Roasted Butternut, Pear, and Cranberry—are variations on the fillings I did for my tart chapter in The Fresh and Green Table. Not only are these savory tarts deeply flavored and satisfying (great with soup or salad), but they are a lot of fun to put together.
For step by step assembling instructions, you’ll want to look back at the directions and the photos I included in a previous blog, which includes a link to one of the recipes from The Fresh & Green Table. (The Seven Treasure Roasted Winter Veggie Tart is also a favorite in The Fresh & Green Table.) And over on the Martha’s Vineyard Magazine website, you’ll see that I’ve given you options for dividing the dough into either two or four pieces to make two bigger or four smaller tarts.
So you’ve got options.
And when summer comes around (we can be hopeful, right?) don’t forget about my most favorite tart of all—the Roasted Tomato Rustic Tart in Fresh from the Farm!
Hi Susie, I have all your books (including autographed copies of The Fresh and Green Table–my favorite–and Fresh From the Farm) and love to visit your stand for eggs and veggies in the summer.
I would like to make some things for Thanksgiving in advance and wonder if you would recommend freezing the rustic apple tart. I was also thinking of making the Butternut squash, Jonagold Apple and Caramelized Onion Tian and freezing that. Please let me know what you advise and if there are recipes (especially desserts or side dishes) which are more amenable to freezing than others.
If you don’t advise freezing, perhaps you could suggest how far in advance is these could be prepared, refrigerated and reheated. Thanks so much!
Hi Lauren,
You can definitely freeze the rustic fruit tarts. You can freeze the unbaked, pull them out an hour or so before cooking, and expect just slightly longer cooking times. (The crust will be excellent, though). I wouldn’t recommend freezing the tians, as the vegetables tend to weep once unfrozen. I think you could make this the day before and refrigerate, though apples might discolor and dry out a bit–definitely assembling in morning would be fine. But also–you could actually bake that before the turkey goes in and hold it at room temperature, cooked, and then reheat it after turkey comes out.
Most vegetable dishes will reheat pretty well, but freezing isn’t usually a good option for them. Freezing is great for pastry, rolls and bread, nuts, or even the components of your stuffing (in this case you could freeze chopped onions and celery — well wrapped to keep odor out of freezer — as they will be sauteed when unfrozen and excess moisture will go away). Let’s see, you can freeze cranberries. You can freeze many soups. And here’s a make ahead tip–make mashed potatoes ahead and keep them warm, in a double-boiler set up (a stainless steel bowl over a pot of gently simmering water; cover the bowl) for a couple hours.
I hope that helps. Happy thanksgiving! Susie