This is the tart I make every autumn when our fig tree is bursting. The pastry is my gluten-free Hysa House Pie Dough (adapted from the Deluxe Pastry Dough from the Joy of Cooking). The base is a blend of fresh goat cheese, cottage cheese, lemon juice and zest, and almond extract, and it is not very sweet. I let the main sweetness come from the figs. The top is basted with apricot jam and drizzled with raspberry balsamic vinegar.
Country Fig Tart
Filling:
1 quart ripe figs, stems sliced off and quartered
5 ounces fresh goat cheese
16 ounces (1 lb. tub) full-fat cottage cheese
1/4 cup sugar or lakanto, or 1 tablespoon Super Sweet Blend
zest and juice of 2 lemons
1 teaspoon almond extract
3 tablespoons Fiore Di Fruita apricot jam, for basting
Good quality raspberry balsamic vinegar, for drizzling
Tart Crust:
Hysa House Pie Dough recipe, rolled out onto floured parchment, into one large circle 1/4 inch thick
- Prepare the figs. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 425°.
- In a food processor, combine until very smooth the goat cheese, cottage cheese, sugar, lemon zest and juice, and almond extract.
- Spread the pastry filling over the rolled tart crust, about 1/4 inch thick (or more to your liking) keeping about a 2-inch border free for folding. Next, starting on the edge of the filling, lay the fig pieces flesh-side up in a circle. Continue laying them in circles, working inward, until the center is filled. Next, fold the tart edge over so that the edge of the fruit and filling hide underneath. Warm the apricot jam on the stove for 60 seconds until liquified, and with a pastry brush, baste the whole tart, fruit and crust, with the jam. Lastly, drizzle the figs with the raspberry vinegar.
- Transfer the tart with the parchment paper onto a cold pizza stone or square baking sheet, place onto the bottom rack of the oven, and bake for 25 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the fruit is bubbling.