An easy to make free-form fruit tart. The advantage here is that you don’t need a flan/quiche tin nor does the fruit have to be arranged in pretty patterns (though you could if you wish).

You can use almost any fruit. Gooseberries work well, as should any other berries. Rhubarb is also good; cut it into 1-2cm pieces. Stone fruit work well too, as would apples or pears. Citrus probably not so good, although YMMV.

I use puff pastry (and I can’t be bothered to make it) but you could use shortcrust or even filo pastry.

Serves: 6-8 as a sweet course
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 500g packet of puff pastry
• 600-750g fruit (more is better as it cooks down)
• 2-3 tbsp ground almonds
• 6 tbsp caster sugar (or a bit more depending how sweet you want the fruit)
• 1 egg, beaten (or an equivalent amount of milk)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 220℃/200℃ fan/gas mark 7.
2. Prepare a baking sheet and cover with baking parchment.
3. Mix the ground almonds with an equal amount of sugar and set aside.
4. Mix the beaten egg (or milk) with 2 tbsp sugar and set aside.
5. Prepare the fruit. Top and tail any berries. Remove stones. Cut fruit into pieces (they don’t have to be pretty).
6. Roll out the pastry to form a rough circle the size of the baking sheet (or slightly bigger; it doesn’t have to be precise) and transfer to the baking sheet.
7. If the pastry has come out square-ish, snip off the corners to make something rounder, otherwise you end up with too many thick folds of pastry. Keep the pastry offcuts!
8. Paint the pastry liberally with the egg/sugar mix.
9. Sprinkle the ground almond mix in the centre of the pastry leaving a 3-4cm border around the edge.
10. Pile the fruit on the almond mix – again it doesn’t have to look pretty – and sprinkle with another 1-2 tbsp sugar (to taste).
11. Fold the edges of the pastry up and over the fruit to form a tart.
12. Brush the edge of the tart with the egg mix and sprinkle over a little extra sugar.
13. Bake for about 30 minutes until the pastry is crisp & golden and the fruit softened.
14. Serve either hot or cold with cream or ice-cream.

Here’s a (red) gooseberry tart I made earlier, still on the baking sheet and guarded by four mini rustic apple turnovers (more about that later!).

Tomorrow I’ll tell you how I made a yummy veggie version of this tart. And the day after that what to do with those pastry offcuts.