Bake
Serves 8
Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
½ tsp salt
Dash freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbs fresh sweet marjoram, minced
½ cup (1 stick) salted butter
5 Tbs ice water
Blueberry Filling:
Ingredients:
3 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs Grand Marnier
1 cup fresh blueberries, washed, drained and picked over
Grated lemon zest
8 tiny sprigs of fresh marjoram
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°
To make pastry, combine flour, salt, pepper, and marjoram.
Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.
Stir in ice water, 1 Tbs at a time until dough can be formed into a ball. (If using a food processor, place flour, salt, pepper, marjoram and butter in a work bowl fitted with a steel blade. Combine by turning machine on/off until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add water and continue processing until dough forms a ball.)
Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for one hour.
On a lightly floured board, roll out dough to ¼" thick.
If you are using 2"-2½" tartlet pans, place eight of them on top of the pastry.
Using a sharp knife, cut the pastry slightly larger than each pan.
Press the pastry into the pans using your thumbs, cut off the excess.
If using a single large tart pan, cut the pastry slightly larger than the pan and make a decorative edging using the tines of a fork, or make a fluted edge by hand.
Prick the pastry with a fork, line with aluminum foil, and fill with dried beans or pie weights.
Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden.
Transfer to a rack, remove the foil and beans. Let tartlet shells cool.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine lemon juice, sugar and Grand Marnier. Bring to a boil and stir until sugar dissolves.
Add blueberries and cook over medium heat for five minutes. Set aside to cool.
Fill each tartlet shell with blueberry mixture or pour it all into the single, large tart shell.
Refrigerate.
When ready to serve, reheat in a 350° oven for five minutes.
Sprinkle tartlets with grated lemon zest and garnish with small sprigs of marjoram.
Gilbertie, Sal. Kitchen Herbs: The Art and Enjoyment of Growing Herbs and Cooking with Them: New York, Bantam Books, 1988
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