This easy tart recipe’s great to have in the repertoire. The phyllo crust makes it impressive enough to serve when entertaining and the lack of pastry cream lightens it up considerably. The phyllo is rolled up and cut before baking; handling it is stress-free, a perfect introduction to using phyllo if you haven’t.
It’s a Jacques Pépin creation from Encore With Claudine, which means off the bat it’s easy. But his salpicon is quicker than many because the fruit isn’t cooked and it’s bound with preserves, eliminating the need to heat and brush on the preserves as traditional tarts require.
A few pointers: use whatever fruits you like. His recipe uses about 12 ounces of plums and a cup of blueberries. Nearly any stone fruit, berry or even bananas or grapes will be fine. Ideally, fresh in-season fruit would top your base, but the world’s not ideal. I made this during my Budget Challenge, using what I had on hand — yes, I keep phyllo on hand — so it was frozen organic strawberries, thawed, with jarred peaches this time. There’s no need to fret about specific amounts. You want enough to cover the base attractively and you’ll know when you’re there.
His version never gives me enough phyllo on the base, so I use more. And even though it’s got butter and oil, it sometimes sticks so I spray the bottom of the pan for insurance. It’s baked in a tart pan, or you could use a springform, and the crust needs to be removed for easy cutting and serving.
This is a bit like making a lattice-top pie in that you’ll get oohs and aahs but the hardest part is not telling people how easy it is.
Phyllo Tart with Fruit
Adapted from Jacques Pépin
For the fruit mixture (salpicon)
12 ounces, approx, pitted stone fruit, diced
1 cup, approx, berries
5 TB apricot preserves
1 1/2 TB lemon juice
Tart crust
6 sheets thawed phyllo dough [ella's amount]
1 TB unsalted butter, melted
1 TB canola or vegetable oil
2 TB sugar
Mix the apricot preserves and lemon juice in a large bowl. Add the fruit and toss well to coat all the fruit. Cover and set aside in a cool place (not the refrigerator) for an hour or more, until ready to serve.
Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350F/180C/Gas 4. Spray an 8″ tart pan or other 8″ pan with a removable bottom.
Remove the phyllo sheets from their bundle and roll (re-roll) them up together like a scroll. Cut or snip into narrow strips – sharp kitchen shears work well. Place the strips on a rimmed baking sheet and add the melted butter, the oil and the sugar. Toss well to coat all the phyllo.
Transfer to the prepared pan and pat into place. Bake 14 to 17 minutes until well-colored and crisp. Let cool in the pan on a rack. Slide the base onto a serving plate.
When ready to serve, spoon the salpicon of fruit onto the top and serve immediately.
Serves 4
Ella’s notes: If you have leftovers, the base will be soggy the next day. If you’re making this in an 8″ springform or wondering what else to do with it if you buy one, that’s the size needed for my Junior’s Cheesecake recipe. I’ve never tried this in a standard pie plate, but if you want a more elaborate dessert that uses phyllo in place of a regular crust, check out my Phyllo Cranberry Pie. It’s great around the holidays.
If the Martha gene surfaces: One year I had a house full of people for Easter so I made a big bunch of the phyllo base — I think I used both packages that come in a box of phyllo, but maybe only one — and I baked it in a 10″ springform, fluffing it and arranging the phyllo so it looked like a bird’s nest. I put decorated Easter eggs and some speckled candy robin’s eggs on it and used it as the centerpiece. It was just adorable.
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