ALI'S RHUBARB HAZELNUT BREAKFAST TART

​(adapted from A. Medrich)
 
makes one 9” tart
 
¾ cup hazelnuts, skins removed
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cardamom
zest of 1 large mandarin
11 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
1 egg yolk
¼ teaspoon almond extract
1 cup homemade rhubarb jam (recipe follows)
 
Lightly butter and flour a 9” tart ring with removable bottom. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, place the hazelnuts, flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, cardamom and zest. Pulse until the hazelnuts are finely ground. Add the cubed butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Add the egg yolk and almond extract and pulse a few times until the yolk is incorporated into the dough. Carefully turn the mixture out onto a sheet of plastic wrap, shape into a disc and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight. When the dough has chilled, retrieve it from the fridge, pinch off ¼ of the dough, wrap it in plastic and return it to the fridge. (This will become the top of the tart.) On a sheet of parchment paper that has been lightly dusted with flour, roll out the remaining dough into a circle about 12” in diameter and transfer the dough to the tart ring. (The dough is soft and somewhat sticky; flour your fingers for ease of patting the dough into the bottom of the pan and up the sides.) Trim the edges and add any scraps to the package of dough in the fridge. Refrigerate the tart shell while you prepare the rhubarb jam.
 
Rhubarb Jam
 
10 oz. of trimmed rhubarb, (leaves and tough ends removed) rinsed and sliced into ½” pieces (you should have a generous 2 cups of rhubarb pieces)
½ cup + 2 tablespoons mild honey
½ vanilla bean, split in half with a sharp paring knife
zest of 1 large mandarin
1 tablespoon mandarin juice
 
In a heavy bottomed non-reactive (no aluminum!) pan, place the rhubarb pieces, honey, vanilla bean, zest and juice. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes over low heat. Remove the vanilla bean from the pan and use the tip of a knife to scrape the seeds back into the mixture. Use a slotted spoon to remove just the rhubarb from the pan, leaving the liquid behind, and place the cooked fruit in a bowl set over ice, stirring it occasionally until it cools. Cook the syrup in the pan over low heat, until it thickens and reduces by half. Scrape the reduced syrup into a small bowl and set it in the fridge to cool. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
 
To assemble the tart, place the chilled tart shell on a parchment lined baking sheet. Using an offset spatula, spread 2 tablespoons of the cooled rhubarb syrup over the bottom of the tart, leaving a 1” border. Spread the cooled rhubarb filling over the syrup. Retrieve the excess dough from the fridge and crumble it evenly over the rhubarb filling. Bake the tart in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. Place a sheet of aluminum foil over the top (to prevent overbrowning) and bake for an additional 15-20  minutes, until the tart is golden brown and the filling bubbles slightly in the middle. Cool on a rack completely before carefully removing the outer rim of the tart pan. Serve with fresh yogurt and the remaining rhubarb syrup. Cover and refrigerate any leftovers.