The culinary bible Larousse Gastronomique cites ‘sauce Maltaise’ as a savoury preparation of hollandaise flavoured with blood orange. For a while, blood oranges were known as ‘Maltese oranges’ – so prized they were sent annually to Marie Antoinette in Versailles. This recipe captures the deliciousness of blood orange in a velvety curd, delivered in a delicate crust.
SERVES: 8-10
PREPARATION: 25 MINUTES + 30 MINUTES CHILLING
COOKING: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
Sweet shortcrust pastry
- 150g (1 cup) plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 50g icing sugar
- 75g butter, chilled and diced
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon iced water
Blood orange curd
- 3 large eggs
- 150g caster sugar
- Grated zest of ½ blood orange, plus 100ml juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 110g butter, softened and diced
- 1 blood orange for garnish (sliced into thin discs)
How to:
Combine the flour, sugar and butter in a bowl and rub together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs or rough sand. Add the egg yolk and water to form a dough. Shape into a ball, then flatten into a disc. Cover in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
While the pastry is chilling, make the curd. Combine the eggs, sugar, zest and juices in a medium heatproof bowl and whisk together. Set the bowl above a saucepan of simmering water set over a low–medium heat. Cook, stirring often with a wooden spoon, for 15–20 minutes, or until the mixture thickens to a curd. It is ready when you are able to draw a line through the curd on the back of the spoon and it doesn’t run. Stir in the butter until well blended and remove from the heat.
Preheat the oven to 170°C and butter a 24cm (9½ in) loose-based flan (tart) tin. Roll the pastry out on a floured surface until large enough to cover the tin. Line the tin with the pastry, pressing it into the sides. Trim the excess by rolling the pin across the top of the tin. Line with baking paper and fill with dried beans or rice (or weights) for blind baking. Bake for 15 minutes, then lift out the paper and contents and bake for 5 minutes more.
Allow the pastry shell to cool for at least 5 minutes, then fill with the curd. Bake for another 10 minutes. Leave the tart to cool, then chill in the refrigerator and serve cold.
For the blood orange garnish, slice the orange into thin discs. Place them on a wire rack and cook them in the oven for the last 5 minutes of the tart cooking. Leave them in the oven when you turn it off, with the door slightly ajar.
Edited recipe extract from Malta by Simon Bajada, published by Hardie Grant Books. Available in stores nationally, RRP$50.
