Almond and pumpkin tarts

The cookbook Lisboeta is packed with recipes from the Portuguese capital. These tartes de amêndoa e abóbora, almond and pumpkin tarts, are perfectly fine to eat for breakfast, as far as we’re concerned.

This pastry is a tribute to the tarts sold at the markets in Lisbon, with crunchy nuts and a crumbly, buttery filling that tastes of almond and orange.

Method

Preheat the oven to 220°C. Grease four 13 cm-diameter tart tins with butter.

Make the filling: place the butternut squash on a baking sheet and toss it with the olive oil, 1 tsp sugar and the paprika. Roast the squash for 30 minutes, until soft and caramelised. Purée it until smooth with a stick blender.

Beat the butter and 90 g sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the ground almonds. Fold in the flour, then the pumpkin purée and orange zest. Divide the batter between the tins and bake the tarts for approximately 10 minutes, until just set.

Make the topping: melt the butter in a pan over low heat and dissolve the sugar in it. Stir in the almonds and milk and cook, stirring, for a few minutes. Divide the topping over the tarts and return them to the oven for another 4 minutes.

If you like, dust the tarts with icing sugar when they come out of the oven. Let them cool slightly before removing them from the tins; the topping will firm up as it cools.

Lisboeta
Nuno Mendes
Veltman uitgevers
€30,-