Rustic Fruit Tart

Combine flour, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, and salt in a bowl. Add butter, working it into mixture with a pastry cutter until it resembles coarse sand. Add orange juice; stir with a fork until dough holds together when squeezed. Shape it into a disk; cover with plastic wrap. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients except egg yolks, lightly crushing berries to moisten. Set aside. Working on a floured surface, roll out dough into a 12-inch circle, then transfer to a lightly greased baking sheet. In a small bowl, mix yolks with 1 tablespoon water to form an egg wash. Brush outer 2 inches of dough circle with wash. Arrange fruit in center of dough. Fold and loosely pleat dough around edges, brushing dough with egg wash to help pleats stick. Bake until fruit is bubbly and crust is deep golden, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; serve warm or at room temperature. If desired, serve with ice cream on the side.

Recipe variations:

• The key to this recipe's success is to have about 5 cups of fruit, but switch the fruit varieties with each season. Peaches and blueberries are a great combination, as are apricots and plums. (Roast the apricots before assembling the tart to intensify their natural sweetness.) In the fall and winter, use apples or pears with nuts and dried fruits, such as raisins or cranberries. Strawberry and rhubarb mark the beginning of spring.


• If the fruit you use is particularly juicy, add a few extra pinches of cornstarch. To make individual tarts, divide the chilled dough disk into 6 small circles and proceed as above.

Note: Leftovers make a good breakfast with low-fat plain or vanilla yogurt instead of ice cream.

From Hudson Valley Mediterranean: The Gigi Good Food Cookbook, by Laura Pensiero. Copyright (c) 2009 by Laura Pensiero. Published by William Morrow Cookbooks, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Reprinted by permission.