Ricotta Tart with Honey Cinnamon Glazed Figs

I have figs!

Two years ago I planted a Chicago Hardy fig tree.   In November.   Right before that nuclear winter we had that lasted forever - you know, the one with the Polar Vortex from hell. 

That winter.

And the next spring, the fig came up anyway.  So here's my shout out to Stark Bros where I got the fig and where I get a lot of my fruit trees/plants.   Great stock and they'll replace if the plants don't make it a year. 

The plant died back to the ground, but that spring the fig bore 3 whole figs, which got the size of marbles and then fell off before they ripened.   

Last winter the fig died back again all the way to the ground, but popped up this spring when the ground warmed up.   I have dozens of tiny figs along the branches.    And one ripe one.

The figs get suddenly larger when they ripen, then they turn that color and droop.  And when they are ripe, I will make this tart.  Again.  I made this recipe up myself.   It is delicious.   I plan on eating it several more times this season.

Because I have figs.

 Ricotta Tart with Honey Cinnamon Glazed Figs
www.rurification.com

1 dozen or so very ripe figs [California Mission are fine]
1 lb ricotta cheese
1/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon for the filling + 1/4 tsp more cinnamon for the glaze
1/4 cup honey
 Your favorite pie or tart crust for bottom of tart/pie plate.

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 350.  Make the crust and put it in the bottom of a tart or pie plate.

Filling:  Mix the ricotta, eggs, sugar, vanilla and 1/4 tsp cinnamon well.   Put into pie crust.

Topping:  Wash and slice the figs in half.   Arrange the figs cut side up around the top of the filling, fat ends out, skinny ends pointing to the center.

Glaze.   Heat the honey and 1/4 tsp cinnamon in the microwave for 30 seconds.   Mix it as well as you can [it won't want to mix].   Pour/spread glaze evenly on all figs and around the top of the tart. [If you LOVE this glaze, feel free to make more.   It's good when it's baked and oozing all over the place.]

Bake 60 minutes.   Cool.    Delicious at room temp or chilled. 

Ricotta Almond Pear Jam Tart

A few days ago I gave you a recipe for a savory ricotta tart.  I figured we needed a sweet one to balance out the universe.  Also, I wanted to show you another of my Things to do with a Jar of Jam.

I have a lot of jars of jam.  It's important to eat them with something other than toast.  Not that I'm knocking toast.  I love toast.   Or better yet, fried bread.  Or better yet, just me, the jar and a spoon.   It's been known to happen.

At any rate, sometimes those homey jars of jam like to go out with someone other than Peanut Butter. They like to get dressed up and taken out for a night on the town. Because there's a little tart in every jar of jam. 

This is just such a recipe. It's fast and easy, especially if you use a store bought crust.  You can do the graham cracker crust thing or the regular pie crust thing.  I made a regular pie crust for this one. 

Ricotta Almond Pear Jam Tart
www.rurification.com

• 1 pie crust - either the regular kind or the graham cracker kind.
• 30 oz container of ricotta cheese [or thereabouts]
• 8 oz. can of almond paste
• 1/4 cup sugar [optional]
• 1 can sliced pears, well drained
• 1 jar of jam, 8 oz.  any flavor that you like.  We used Cherry Orange Jam.

Blend the cheese, almond paste and sugar together well.  You can use a food processor or immersion blender or whatever.   The almond paste is kind of thick, so if you're going at this by hand, then take a minute to break it up before you mix it with the cheese.  

Line a tart dish with your pie crust.   Put in the cheese filling.   Arrange the pears in a circle around the top of the filling.   Loosen the jam with a fork so that it's easy to pour - add a bit of juice or water if you need to thin it out.  You can heat it for a bit  if you have to.  Pour the jam over the top of the tart.  Make it pretty.

Bake at 350 for 60 minutes or until golden. Use a lower rack to get a golden bottom. 

Cool completely for a firm texture. 

This is fantastic served room temperature as dessert or cold for breakfast.  Or a snack.   Or a blogging break. 

I'm thinking you can use just about any type of jam on this and it would be A. Maz. Ing.

Ricotta Tart with Caramelized Onions

We've been working hard on various projects inside and outside lately and I haven't had much time to play in the kitchen.  I woke up a couple of Saturdays ago and realized I could spend the day baking. I had a hankering to make my own pie crusts [which does not happen very often] and to experiment with ricotta fillings.  I made a savory one and a sweet one. 

I saw this tart a few weeks ago and decided to do something similar with what I had in the pantry.

I had ricotta and onions.   And thyme.  And that odd hankering to make my own crusts [which does not happen very often.]

So I set to work.

Ricotta Tart with Caramelized Onions
www.rurification.com

• 1 pie crust
• 3 large onions
• 1/2 tsp - 1 tsp salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• a few grinds black pepper
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp garlic salt

Start caramelizing the onions in the butter right away.   I've talked about this before, but I'll review the salient points again.  You have to cook them down in a protein fat, like butter.   Butter is good.  Slice the onions thin and pop them into a big skillet.  Cook them down, down, down.  It takes at least an hour.   At. Least.  Salt them a bit.

Don't rush the onions.  You need that golden crispiness to bring out the sweet. 

While the onions are cooking you can make the pie crust and chill it.  Use your favorite recipe.

While the pie crust is chilling, you can mix up the filling.  Mix the cheese, pepper, thyme and garlic salt in a bowl and chill it until the onions are done.

When the onions are golden and browning, roll out the pie crust if you're making homemade.   Put the crust in a tart dish or on a flat baking sheet.  Put the cheese filling in the center of the crust and pile the finished onions on top.  If you're doing a tart pan, then flute the edges of the crust.  If you're doing a flat rustic tart, then spread the filling and onions to within 1 1/2 inches of the edge and fold the edge in over the cheese and onions.  Make it pretty.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until the crust is golden.  Put it on a lower rack if you want a golden bottom as well.

Cool completely.  Delicious served at room temperature.  Or cold.  Or microzapped as leftovers.  We loved this tart!

Apple Tart

Confession:   This apple tart is just an open face apple pie. 

We only had one ready-made pie crust and I was too lazy to make more.  The trick is to put it in a tart pan.  Everyone should have a tart pan for just such occasions.

Also - the apples were frozen in a bag and we didn't defrost them before we unceremoniously dumped them in the crust in big frozen chunks.

It looked awful.   I didn't care.  

Remember that - it's the unceremoniousness that makes it taste extra good.    I'm sure.

If you want to make it fresh, here's the recipe:

Apple Tart
www.rurification.com

• 1 pie crust, pressed into the bottom of a tart pan
• 8 cups sliced apples, skins on
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

Put the crust in the tart pan.  Toss the apples with the sugar and spices.   Dump it all unceremoniously into the tart pan.   Bake on the bottom rack of the oven at 350 degree for 60 minutes or until apples are soft. 

This is the same apple sugar spice mix we use for frozen pie mixes.   We wash and cut up 1/2 bushel of apples at a time, core them and slice them.  Don't bother peeling them.   Put 8 cups of apples in a freezer bag and dump in the sugar/spice mix.   Freeze flat so it's easy to break up into chunks for those last minute apple tarts.