Walnut Tart
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1 stick butter, more for smearing foil
1 unbaked pastry shell in a 9-inch pie pan
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cream
2 1/2 cups roughly chopped walnuts (there should be large chunks)
Salt to taste
Preheat oven to 400F. Tear off a piece of foil twice as large as
crust. Fold it in half and smear it with butter; lay buttered side
onto crust. Weight foil with a pile of dried beans or rice (these
can be reused for this purpose), pie weights, or a tight-fitting
ovenproof skillet or saucepan - anything that will sit flat on the
surface. Bake 12 minutes, then remove foil and continue to bake at
350F, until crust is a beautiful shade of brown, another few minutes.
Remove and let cool on a rack while you prepare filling.
Put sugar in a heavy 6- or 8-inch saucepan or deep skillet with a
tablespoon of water and turn heat to medium. Cook, gently shaking
pan occasionally, until sugar melts; then cook, stirring occasionally
and scraping sides with a heat-proof flexible spatula, until mixture
turns golden.
Turn heat to low, then carefully add butter and cream. Cook,
stirring constantly, until butter melts and mixture is uniform. Stir
in walnuts and a large pinch of salt if you like, then spread on
crust. Refrigerate for about an hour, then sprinkle with a little
more salt and serve.
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