Rick Stein's Walnut tarte Ribérac style

 

In my opinion every kitchen should carry a copy of this

This Crunchy walnut tart recipe comes originally from Stephanie Alexander's 'Cooking and Travelling in South-West France'.  We came across the recipe in our copy of Rick Stein's brilliant cook book 'French Odyssey'.  Lesley and I are both firm believers in all the heatlh benefits that walnuts can offer.  Our verandah has orange netting sacks bulging with walnuts hanging off every available hook and nail and we are always looking for ideas where walnuts can be incoporated into a recipe be it sweet or savoury. 

Time to get cracking with some of our locally gathered walnuts

Rick Stein waxes lyrical about Stephanie Alexander and describes her as following the path of other illustrious female cookery writers such as Jane Grigson, Elizabeth David and Julia Child.  Rick Stein's recipe suggests chestnut honey and cream.  As is our wont Lesley and I tweaked things ever so slightly and swapped chestnut honey for acacia and cream for crème fraîche.

Everything ready to go

If you'd like to try out this recipe you will require-

120g unsalted butter
150g acacia honey
100ml double cream
2tbsp rum
300g walnut pieces
150g caster sugar
5 egg yolks

For the pastry

180g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
240g plain flour
Pinch of salt
2-3 tbsp cold water

Crème fraîche, to serve

Method:

Remove the butter from the fridge 30 mins before making the pastry.  Sift the flour and salt onto a work surface.  Cut the butter into smallish pieces, add to the flour and lightly rub together to partly combine.  Make a well in the centre, add the water and, using a pastry scaper, work the paste to a rough heap of buttery lumps of dough.  Then work together as briefly as possible into a smooth dough, roll out on a lightly floured surface and use to line a loose-bottomed flan tin that is 2.5cms deep and 24cm across the base.  Prick the base here and there with a fork and chill for 20 mins.  

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees or gas mark 6.  Line the pastry case with a sheet of crumpled greaseproof paper and a thin layer of baking beans and bake for 20 mins.  Remove the paper and beans and return to the oven for 10 mins.  Remove and lower the oven temperature to 190 degrees or gas mark 5.  

Put the butter, honey, crème fraîche and rum together in a saucepan and warm gently over a low heat, but don't let it get hot.  Mix the walnuts and sugar together in a bowl.  Lightly whisk the egg yolks, and whisk them into the honey mixture, then stir this into the walnuts and sugar.  Pour the mixture into the pastry case and bake for 40 mins until the tarte is well caramelised.  Leave to cool, and cut into thin wedges and serve with some crème fraîche.

 The blend of walnuts, melted butter, sugar,honey, rum and crème fraîche

As I have already said I am always interested in discovering the many ways in which one can consume walnuts.  I sometimes have them for breakfast incorporating a generous handful into my yoghurt with a swirl of local honey added. I find that roasting them or dry frying them for 10 mins or so really releases the full flavour.  I also add them to Perigourdian salad or serve them along with blue cheese as an aperitif.  On occasion Lesley and I will splash out on a local speciality of the Dordogne,  Gâteau aux Noix.  So there you have it, if you have a ready supply of walnuts there really is no excuse not to add them to your daily diet and benefit from one of natures wonders.  It is my firm belief that as they so closely resemble the human brain it must follow that they can only improve your intellect!

Fresh from the oven and definitely good enough to eat!