Fig and Labneh Tart
Labne tart filling adapted from Alice Medrich
For shortcrust pastry
- 1 cup plain all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 110g/3.88ozs cold butter, cut into cubes or grated
- 5-6 tablespoons iced water
For filling
- 500g/1 pound labneh* (from 700g natural yogurt, drained)
- 3 eggs at room temperature, beaten
- 1/4 cup sifted icing or powdered sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
To decorate
- 7-8 fresh figs
- 2-3 tablespoons honey
To make labneh, place two layers of cheesecloth over a sieve fitted over a bowl and spoon the yogurt into the cheesecloth. Cover with cling firm and allow to drain overnight. The whey will remain in the bowl and the labneh will remain in the cheesecloth, ready to use for this recipe.
Step 1 - In a food processor, mix the flour, salt and butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add some of the water into the processor and process until it forms a dough - you may not need all of the water.
Step 2 - Press the dough into a 24cm/9.6inch tart tin. I wanted to make this as thin a tart shell as possible and this is exactly just enough dough to fill the base and sides. Refrigerate for 1.5 hours.
Step 3 - Preheat oven to 180C/350F and dock the pastry with a fork. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes until golden and baked through (never let me look after your kids Dear Reader because I completely forgot to line the pastry with beans but it was perfectly fine). Cool while you get on with the filling.
Step 4 - Whisk the labneh, eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla and cinnamon together in a boiwl. Scoop into the tart shell and smooth over with an palette knife. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the centre is just set. Cool.
Step 5 - Slice figs in sixths or eights depending on size. Place on top of the tart and drizzle with honey and serve.