Lemon Tart with Strawberries.

I'm so excited for the spring and summer seasons.  I'm so ready to do lots of grilling and chow on fresh, seasonal fruits and veggies. I thought a good kick off to the spring season would be a lemon tart.  I found a pretty great deal on some great looking strawberries and decided I had to add them.  Hopefully the hubby will be happy to come home to one of his favorite desserts. :)


HAPPY SPRING!

French Pastry Pie Crust
(adapted from a recipe I found on allrecipes.com)

3 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3 tablespoons white sugar

1 cup shortening

1 egg

1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar

5 tablespoons water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a small bowl, combine first three ingredients.  Add shortening and cut into flour mixture until it resembles crumbs.

In a separate small bowl, combine egg, vinegar and about 4 tablespoons of the water.  Add to flour mixture and stir together with a fork. Mix until dough forms a ball. If it is too dry you can add a little more water. Form into a disc and chill for about ten minutes.

When dough has chilled, roll out on a floured surface and then transfer to a pie plate or tart pan, and press into pan. Bake for 20 min.

Lemon Curd

(adapted from Alton Brown's recipe)

5 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

4 lemons, zested and juiced

1 stick of butter, cut into pats and chilled

Add enough water to a medium saucepan to come about 1-inch up the side. Bring to a simmer over med-high heat. Meanwhile, combine egg yolks and sugar in a medium size metal bowl and whisk until smooth. 

Measure lemon juice and if needed, add enough cold water to reach 1/3 cup. Add juice and zest to egg mixture and whisk until smooth. Once water reaches a simmer, reduce heat to low and place bowl on top of saucepan. (bowl should be big enough that the bottom doesn't touch the water) Whisk until thickened, approximately 8 minutes, or until mixture is light yellow and coats the back of a spoon. Remove promptly from heat and stir in butter a piece at a time, allowing each addition to melt before adding the next.

Pour curd into cooled pie crust bake at 350 for 15-20 min. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Garnish with sliced strawberries.