Lemon Tart

Who doesn't love a lemon tart? You could easily make this with grapefruit or lime as well. Citrus+pastry=Yum! This recipe comes from the Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver and I made it a few weeks ago at my Serious Foodie class.

Lemon Curd:
Juice of 2 lemons
Juice of 1/4 orange
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 cup cold butter, cubed

Dough:
1 1/4 cups of flour
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cold water (more or less)
2 tablespoons cold vodka

Servings: 4

To prepare dough, make sure it is all COLD. Cut butter into flour along with sugar and salat on a floured surface using a pastry cuter, fork or scraper. Once it resembles course cornmeal and water and vodka in 2-3 batches. Flatten into a disc and wrap in plastic. Rest for a minimum of 20 minutes or overnight in the fridge before rolling.

Remove from fridge and roll into a 1/8 inch circle. Cut around either individual tart shells or a 9 inch removabale bottom tart plate, leaving just 1/2 an inch border.
Pinch overhang of dough around shell and take rolling pin and run over top to flatten. Cut out a piece of parchment paper large enought to fit in the pie plate. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, with pastry weights or dried beans inside.

Pour cooled lemon curd into shell and let sit a minimum of 2 hours or overnight.