Almonds: Blanched, Ground, and Baked

My trip to Spain begins in less than two weeks and while I'm sadly not exploring Galicia, I wanted to share a recipe from Claudia Roden's The Food of Spain: Tarta di Santiago-Galicia, a terrifically simple tart of eggs, almonds, sugar, and citrus zest. For a somewhat similar tart that has a pastry shortcrust base, try Maxine Clark's Torta di limone e mandorle, which I share here. When making the tart filling and you're grinding your own blanched almonds, Clark recommends grinding the almonds with half of the sugar, then beating the eggs with the remaining sugar, and finally stirring the two mixtures together. This prevents the almonds from becoming too oily. Whipped cream and fresh berries would accompany either tart well.



Torta di limone e mandorle [Lemon and Almond Tart]

from Maxine Clark's Italian Kitchen

Shortcrust pastry:

2 sticks butter

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ cup sugar

2 egg yolks

Lemon and almond filling:

4 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten

2/3 cup sugar

finely grated peel and freshly squeezed juice of 3 lemons

1 stick of unsalted butter, melted

¾ cup ground blanched almonds

whipped cream, to serve

Equipment:

a loose-based fluted tart pan, about 9 inches diameter foil and baking beans

To make the shortcrust pastry, rub the butter into the flour and sugar until the mixture looks like grated Parmesan cheese. Put the 2 egg yolks in a small bowl, add 1 Tb water and beat lightly. Pour into the flour mixture and mix with a round-bladed knife until it looks like chunks of Parmesan. Tip out onto a clean work surface and knead lightly until smooth. Knead into a ball, flatten, then wrap in plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface. Pick up the rolling pin and use to line the tart pan. Use a small ball of excess pastry wrapped in plastic wrap to push the pastry into the pan. Roll the rolling pin over the pastry to cut off the excess. Prick the base all over with a fork, then chill or freeze for 15 minutes to set the pastry. Line the pastry case with foil, flicking the edges of the foil inwards towards the center so that it doesn’t catch on the pastry. Fill with baking beans, set on a baking sheet, and bake blind in the center of the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. Remove the foil and beans and return the pastry case to the oven for a further 5-7 minutes to dry out completely.

To make the filling, put the eggs, sugar, lemon peel, and juice in a bowl and whisk together until light and fluffy. Stir in the melted butter and almonds. Mix well and pour into the prepared pastry case. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until the crust and the top of the tart are golden brown. Remove from the oven, let cool, then chill in the refrigerator before serving in slices with whipped cream.