Never made a tart or pie in your life? You can make this. Made a million tarts but looking for something that’s wonderfully rough, rustic and simple? You want this.
You don’t need pastry chef skills or a tart plate or pie tin to make these rustic tarts. (And though it’s easy to do, you don’t even have to make pastry – below we’ll share a few versions using bought pastry, which makes them even quicker to pull together).
Call them a free-form tart, a fold-over pie, or a galette, what they all have in common is that they are made by rolling out a rough circle of pastry (the thing we love number one: it doesn’t matter if it’s not a perfect circle!); piling on a filling (TWL no 2: endless variations); then folding the pastry back over, to partially cover the filling (TWL no 3: if the pastry breaks a bit during the folding, it doesn’t matter). Unlike a pie or tart made using a tart or pie tin, there’s no trimming of edges which makes it quicker and uses all the pastry. And the cooking is easier too: as chef Adrian Richardson says of his , “Free-form tarts are the easiest pastries to make: no lining or blind baking required.” (We’ve lost count… but you get the picture. So many TWL about this technique!)
Here are some of our favourite sweet and savoury takes on the fold-over pastry tart:
With homemade pastry
"This tart is simplicity at its best – a selection of gorgeous summer stone fruit encased in a sweet, easy-peasy pastry. There's no real structure, it's slightly rustic and lets seasonal stone fruits shine," says Anneka Manning of her . Made with sweet shortcrust pastry and a simple filling, this will keep in the fridge for up to 2 days after making, so it's a good make-ahead option.
Source: Alan Benson
You can make the pastry for this glorious galette up to 24 hours in advance, making it easy to get a head start. If you can get your hands on lemon balm, the pesto is a brilliant way to use it (and if you can't, you could basil, mint, lemon zest or a mixture).
Source: Beth Kirby
These cheery tarts are a great way to make the most of strawberries. Made with coconut sugar and a mixture of plain and wholemeal spelt flour, the pastry has a lovely nutty earthiness, a great contrast to the juicy fruit in the filling. Make one large tart or several smaller ones. She also has a .
Strawberry tarts Source: Donna Hay
A great one to use up all kinds of greens! "We love cooking with the leafy tops of our radishes, swedes and Japanese turnips but you can use whatever greens you have on hand including silverbeet, nettles or spinach," says Gourmet Farmer Matthew Evans. You can make this free-form, using a baking tray, or in a pie plate or oven-proof skillet.
Wild greens pie. Source: Tim Thatcher
"These tarts use an easy rough-puff pastry, which creates lovely crisp layers," says Irish cook Donal Skehan, who makes these rustic tarts in Donal's Kitchen Hero Feast. The filling mixes cherry tomatoes, herbs and ricotta cheese. Make single-serve tarts or one large one.
Tomato, ricotta and thyme tartlets Source: Donal's Kitchen Hero Feast
This recipe from Mary's Kitchen Crush host Mary Berg is a lovely free-form flat pie, with a light, tender flaky dough and sweet-tart fruity filling.
Strawberry rhubarb galette Source: Mary's Kitchen Crush
With store-bought pastry
From Yotam Ottolenghi's book Plenty More, this tart fills a base of buttery puff pastry with chard (silverbeet), mint, parsley, sage, two cheeses, pine nuts and lemon zest (and zucchini flowers, if they are in season). You can use the same recipe with other greens, too: "You can use a wide range of wild, cultivated or supermarket greens in this recipe. Consider nettles, beetroot tops, turnip tops, spinach or watercress in place of the chard. The combination is up to you so choose the ones you like most. The zucchini flowers look wonderful but you can leave them out or substitute them with some long shaved strips of zucchini if you prefer."
Source: Jonathan Lovekin
Chef Adrian Richardson fills circles of puff pastry with tomato, green olive, bocconcini, caper, anchovy and basil filling in these French-influenced free-form tarts.
Mediterranean tarts Source: Richo's Bar Snacks
In this very easy recipe from Donna Hay, shortcrust pastry is spread with jam and fruit, and an almond-cinnamon crumble sprinkled over the top. Brilliant served warm with vanilla ice cream!
Peach crumble galette Source: Donna Hay: Fast, Fresh, Simple
Frances Mayes is another fan. "Spread the crust, pile the filling in the middle, and then loosely flap the edges toward the centre, forming a rustic tart with a spontaneous look," she writes.
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