My Three Tarts tart

Okay, it's actually just one tart, made up of three ladies (tarts) names...Rosemary, Cherry & Ginger...so, a play on words, if you will. I found yet another great group for foodie bloggers and it has to do with PIE! I love pie. I know, I know...what don't I love when it concerns food? Not much, I suppose...but I have certain things I love more than others and pie is one of them. You want Pies with that? picks a new them each month and members back their pie or tart...savory or sweet and enter them by a certain day of the month for judging by the other entrants. There's a cute system based on pi that is used to calculate when things are due (dates & times, etc.) and there's lots and lots of glorious pie. The pie for March is due today (March 14...3/14...3.14 = pi) and the theme for this month is herbs & spices.

My all time favorite fruit is cherries, so I am very fortunate to live in an area of the Midwest where they are abundant...if only for a month or two each year. When the farmer's market gets overrun by all the varieties of cherries, I'm there to stock up by the bushel-full! Years ago I invested in a cherry pitter and it works overtime for the few weeks after those sour cherries arrive! I wash, pit, measure and freeze enough sour cherries to get me through until at least Spring...and then I only have a few months to wait until they come back. I use the same process for sweet cherries, but it's so much harder for me to keep those around...or even get them in to the freezer. But, the few packages that do end up in the freezer are used up in quick fashion (my daughter loves frozen cherries & berries and eats them as a snack year round) as they are used in smoothies, sauces and compotes.

Where is all this cherry talk leading, you wonder? No, I'm sure you've guessed by now that I made some sort of cherry pie or tart...and yes, of course I did! I paired cherries with ginger and rosemary to make my first You want Pies with that? entry.

My Three Tarts tart

recipe by girlichef

Crust:

2 c. AP flour

1 tsp. sea salt

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cold & cut into pcs.

Needles from 2" sprig of Rosemary

1/4 c. heavy cream

3-5 Tbs. ice water

Combine flour & salt in food processor. Add butter & rosemary and pulse until coarse crumbs form. Add cold cream, pulse. Add a little of ice water at a time, just until it is wet enough to hold together. Turn out onto plastic wrap, for into a disk, wrap and refrigerate for about an hour.

Roll out and put into 9" tart pan w/ removable bottom. Press and form to fit, if needed. Par bake for ~12-15 minutes at 400 degrees F (preheated).

Filling:

4 c. sour cherries, pitted (let thaw a bit if frozen)

4 Tbs. quick-cooking tapioca

1 c. granulated or raw sugar

1 1/2 tsp. finely chopped rosemary

1 1/2 tsp. minced fresh ginger

Mix all ingredients in large bowl and let sit for about 15 minutes to mix & mingle & get familiar with one another (let the girls bond). Dump all of the filling into the par baked shell. Put on a foil-lined sheet pan and bake in preheated oven for 45-55 minutes. Remove from oven and brush a little melted apricot jam/preserves over the top to make it shiny. Remove tart pan. Garnish with rosemary & a little crystallized ginger, if you wish. This was a tart in all forms of the word...baked in a tart pan and very tart in flavor. The cherry has that bright, sour bite, the ginger gives a beautiful warming undertone and the rosemary is very earthy...these are three tarts that play nice with others (well, each other)! Again, it's mouth-puckering, so I recommend eating with a big scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream to mellow it out a bit...I did, and it was quite an experience. Be sure to head over to You want Pies with that? to see all of the other mouthwatering entries!