Dried Plum or Fig & Balsamic Vinegar Tart

Recipe courtesy of: Stephen Faccidomo
Photo credits: ​Laurie McGowan ​
PASTRY CRUST
  • 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 8 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small cubes
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon  NHHS Vanilla Extract

FILLING
  • 18 ounces of dried plums or figs
  • 2/3 cup water
  • 3 cups MOV Balsamic Vinegar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 ​ teaspoon salt
  • Zest of one orange
  • 2 tablespoons coarse sugar 
Crust
Process flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a food processor for a few seconds until combined.  

Add butter and pulse until mixture becomes crumbly and resembles coarse meal, about 15 pulses.

Add egg and vanilla extract and keep pulsing until the dough is no longer dry and starts to clump together, about 10-15 seconds. Add a few drops of water if too dry.  Do not process to the point that a large ball of dough is formed; rather the dough should be quite crumbly with large clumps.

Reserve one-third of this mixture to crumble on top of tart.

Using floured hands press two-thirds of the dough into the sides and bottom of a 9-inch tart pan (preferably with a removable bottom). 
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Bake the unfilled crust in a 400F oven, for 8-12 minutes.  Set aside to cool before adding filling.
 
Filling
For the filling, combine the dried plums or figs with water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to medium/low and simmer to cook until softened.

​Drain plums or figs and then transfer to a food processer and pulse until dried fruit is a smooth paste. 

Add all 3 cups of MOV Balsamic Vinegar (you can get creative with all the flavors available) to a large saucepan. 

Cook over medium heat until it thickens to 1/2 a cup.  Add this balsamic reduction to plum or figs, add brown sugar, salt and zest and mix thoroughly. 

Cool this mixture then add to the cooled shell. Take the one-third tart dough you reserved and crumble pieces evenly over the top and sprinkle the coarse sugar on top of the dough. 

Bake tart at 350F for 30 minutes until browned. 

Cool thoroughly before cutting.
​​​​​Enjoy!