Rustic Peach & Rosemary Tart

Name: Rustic Peach & Rosemary Tart
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: PT1.7H
Yield: 8
Cuisine: English
Ingredients: 250g all-purpose flour; 125g cold unsalted butter; 100g icing sugar; 1 egg; 1 tbsp water; 3-5 peaches size dependent; 100g caster sugar; 20g unsalted butter; 2 sprigs rosemary

Vegetarian

I feel very fortunate to have grown up in the UK with access to Europe’s bounty of fresh, seasonal fruit and vegetables—I miss Italian tomatoes now that I live in Canada. But it wasn’t until my first trip here that I was able to taste the abundance of Ontario’s summer fruit. One thing that stood out the most to me was Niagara peaches.

Over 90% of Ontario’s tender fruit crop come from the Niagara Peninsula. The region is filled with orchards and vineyards adorned with fresh fruit. One can even go and pick their own at certain establishments. It’s also a notable wine region imparting further reason to visit.

During the season, peaches flood Toronto’s supermarkets and grocery stores. Large packs are sold at fantastic prices. My wife and I buy several of these during the season, but sometimes we have more than we need and want to put them to use before they turn. This peach tart is a quick and easy way to cook up a fabulous summery dessert while using up excess fruit.

This recipe requires the use of a 23cm or 9” tart tin. You can also use apricots for this recipe as an alternative to peaches.

1.7h

Serves

Prep

25m

Cook

45m

Total

1.7h

Ingredients

Pastry

250g all-purpose flour

125g cold unsalted butter

100g icing sugar

1 egg

1 tbsp water

Filling

3-5 peaches size dependent

100g caster sugar

20g unsalted butter

2 sprigs rosemary

Method

To make the pastry, process the butter, icing sugar and flour in a food processor until resembles breadcrumbs.
Add the egg then process briefly until combined into a smooth dough. Add the water if the dough is too stiff and needs loosening a little. (If you don’t have a food processor you can combine the ingredients by hand and knead until forms smooth dough.)
Wrap the pastry in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. While that’s happening, preheat the oven to 175ºC/350ºF.
Lightly flour a cool work surface and roll out the pastry into a circle slightly larger than a 23cm/9” tart tin.
Line the tart tin with the pastry.
Cover the pastry with baking paper and spread baking beads over the base of the tart. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes before removing the paper and baking beads and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
Once the pastry case is done, it’s time to prepare the filling. Sprinkle half the sugar on the pastry base of the pastry. Half the peaches and stone them, then place them dome side up on the pastry tightly together. Sprinkle the rest of the sugar on the fruit. Add a small knob of butter to the top of each half of the peaches. Remove the rosemary leaves from the stalks and scatter them on top of the tart.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. The fruit should be cooked and a rich syrup should have formed.
Serve either warm with a cold dollop of good quality vanilla ice cream or serve once cooled with crème fraîche.