I have been eyeballing this recipe all summer just waiting for the black plums to be in season so that I could finally try it out.  The wait, by the way, was worth it.  Tart, sweet, savory, and spicy, these tarts check all of the boxes, in one word – mouthwatering.  The few changes I made to this recipe are: 1) I made my own, beef suet-free, vegetarian crust 2) I placed my tarts in 4″ round tart tins for baking instead of the galettes the recipe suggested.

Savory Plum Tarts

Recipe makes 4 (4″) tarts.

Ingredients:

• Crust
  • 1 cup Flour
  • 1/3 cup Vegetable Shortening
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 1 sprig fresh Rosemary
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
• Filling
  • 4 Black Plums (one for each tart)
  • 3 tbsp Sugar
  • 1 tsp Cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp freshly grated Nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
  • 1 tbsp fresh Thyme leaves

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Crust:

1. Fill a cup with iced water.
2. In a food processor combine the flour, shortening, and salt until pea sized clumps start to form.
3. Add the rosemary and parmesan, and pulse the mixture a few times until they have also been incorporated.
4. Add the iced water a tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together.
5. If you find the dough to be too warm and sticky to work with you can place it in the fridge to cool.  I find that I can usually use it right away as long as I do not handle it too much.
6. Divide the dough into equal quarters, and roll them out into small rounds.
7. Gently press each round into the tart tins allowing the excess dough to hang over the sides so that the crust does not sink down during the baking process.  You can trim the crust off later or even serve them with the curst sticking up for a rustic look.
8. Set the tarts shells on a baking sheet to facilitate transferring them and incase the filling overflows in the oven.
9. Place the tart crusts in the fridge until you are ready to fill and bake them.

Filling:

1. Thinly slice the plums.
2. Toss the plums into a bowl and gently stir in the spices.
3. Allow the plums to sit for a few minutes to meld with the spices.

Assembling and Baking the Tarts:

1. Evenly arrange the plum slices inside the tart shells.
2. Distribute the remaining filling liquid onto the tarts.
3. Bake the tarts for 45-50 minutes.