FIG AND WALNUT TART – Recipe by Piero Benigni – This tasty and delicate sweet depends on the summer availability of figs but it is a must when they are in your garden or in the grocer store. It can be enjoyed at various times of the day and is easily prepared in an hour or a little more.
Ingredients for 6 people
- 600 gfigs (21 oz)
- 30 gsugar (1 oz)
- 30 gwalnut kernels (1 oz)
- 90 gbiscuits (Petit type, 3 oz)
- 3 spoonsrum
- 1 pinchsalt
- butter (and flour for the mold)
Tools for the fig and walnut tart
- Oven
- Cooker
- Pan (large, 28 cm or 11″ diameter)
- Chopping Board
- Knife
- Fork
- Wooden Spoon
- Mold for tart, 24 cm or 9″ diameter
- Scale
Getting ready
Peel and roughly chop figs. Weight and chop kernels. Put biscuits into a plastic bag and crush with a meat pounder or the bottom of a bottle. Weight sugar, prepare liquor in a glass. Have everything on hand. Grease and flour the tart mold (24 cm or 9″ diameter).
The ingredients of this tart
Cooking the fig and walnut tart
Use a large pan to let fig water evaporate better. Put over medium heat, add figs, heat up. When softened (about 3-4 minutes) mash with a fork. Add sugar, liquor, chopped walnuts and a pinch of salt. Mix well, add half of the crumbled biscuits. Stir, let the mixture reduce for some minutes. If remaining watery, add a spoonful of breadcrumbs. Taste and if necessary add some sugar. Turn off, let cool.
Cooking the mixture
Unroll crust pie, place well centered on the pan with baking paper topside. Gently remove paper and push pastry down. Leave the excess, repeatedly prick base with a fork. Evenly spread remaining half of crushed biscuits, spoon the mixture, level, spread evenly .
Trim pastry excess, derive strips, fold rim over dough. Put in preheated not fan-assisted oven at 175 °C (340 °F), heat above and below, position below halfway up. Bake 45 minutes or until light brown of pastry and surface is dry if touched. Remove from oven, let cool 30 minutes, remove from mold. Sprinkle with a little icing sugar before serving. It keeps well for 2 days, even at room temperature. Can be frozen, with a 3 months shelf life.
Preparing the mold: fig mixture is cold and ready