Lemon Curd Tart

Ingredients

For shell:

• 2 tablespoons almonds with skins, toasted and cooled
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
• Pinch of fine sea salt
• 1/2 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 large egg yolk
• 3 1/2 tablespoons fruity olive oil (preferably French)

For lemon curd:

• 3 large lemons (~3/4 cup lemon juice and 1 T. zest)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 whole large eggs plus 2 large yolks
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons fruity olive oil (preferably French)

Directions

To make tart shell:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in middle.
2. Pulse almonds with flour, sugar, and sea salt to a fine powder in a food processor. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps.
3. Add yolk and oil and pulse until just incorporated and a very soft dough has formed.
4. Spread dough evenly over bottom and up side of pan with offset spatula. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
5. Bake shell until golden brown all over, about 13 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely, about 30 minutes.

To lemon curd:

6. Grate enough zest from lemons to measure 1 tablespoon, then squeeze 3/4 cup juice from lemons.
7. Whisk together lemon zest and juice, sugar, cornstarch, whole eggs, and yolks in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly. Boil, whisking, 2 minutes.
8. Remove from heat and whisk in butter and oil until smooth, waiting until your curd is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon before adding cubes of butter.

Assemble tart:

9. Pour lemon curd into cooled shell and chill until set, at least 2 hours.

Other variations:

Mangoes and berries may need a bit of citrus to get properly tart, but many other fruits can be used alone: Cranberry, passionfruit, and rhubarb all make excellent choices for curd. While you could put any fruit through a juicer or blender raw for curd, rhubarb and cranberry do well when cooked down with a bit of sugar and mashed.

Ginger, mint, vanilla, and cardamom all add nuance to lemon, lime, and cranberry curds, while a bit of pepper adds a pleasant punch to grapefruit or tangerine curds.