Rustic Jam Shortbread Tart

Last night, we delivered dinner to our dear friends, Nicole and Alex, to help celebrate the recent birth of their beautiful daughter, Madison. When our son, Joseph, was born, they did the same for us, and really threw down the gauntlet by making homemade Chicago-style deep dish pizza, salad and dessert. Of course, dinner is not a competition unless you aspire to be the next Food Network star chef, but I certainly wanted to reciprocate with something equally delicious.

This recipe is another simple yet elegant discovery from The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper. It’s a buttery shortbread crust, flavored with lemon zest and almond extract, that you make entirely in the Cuisinart and press into a tart pan. I am notoriously horrible (horrible!) at making pie crust, so a tart crust is my ideal... easy, delicious and no-stress. You bake the crust until it begins to brown, then top it with some sort of interesting jam and bake it again until the jam starts to bubble. Cool on a rack and serve. Yum!

I chose Bon Maman Wild Blueberry Preserves, perfect because they were flavorful but not too sugary sweet and the most beautiful rich color. Seconds were had by most and the recipe received 5 stars all around. I will absolutely make this again—it came together quickly, looked spectacular and was a crowd-pleaser.

In case you’re interested in the overall menu, I also made a salad of organic baby romaine with dried cranberries, cherry tomatoes and toasted walnuts, with a red wine vinegar and balsamic vinaigrette, cheese-gilded linguine with smoky tomatoes and garlic bread. Not quite as spectacular as homemade Chicago-style pizza, but a good showing nonetheless.