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Photo: Beatriz Da Costa

MAKES 2 9'' TARTS

This recipe starts with pasta frolla ("soft dough") from Carol Fields's The Italian Baker (HarperCollins, 1985).

FOR THE PASTRY:
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch salt
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. butter, cut into pieces
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

FOR THE FILLING:
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups crushed amaretti cookies
2 1/2 lbs. fresh apricots, halved and pitted
1 tbsp. butter, softened
4 tbsp. chopped pistachios
1 egg

1. Mix together flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Combine eggs, vanilla, and lemon juice in a bowl, then add to flour mixture. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until dough holds together. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.

2. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into sugar in a bowl. Discard the pod. Stir sugar and set aside for 1 hour.

3. Preheat oven to 400°. Roll out dough into 2 12'' rounds on a floured work surface, place on 2 cookie sheets, and spread amaretti on top, leaving a 2'' border. Arrange apricots, cut side up, over amaretti, dot with butter, dust with 1 tbsp. vanilla sugar, and sprinkle with pistachios. Fold over edges.

4. Lightly beat egg with 1 tbsp. water. Brush crusts with egg wash; dust tarts with 2 tbsp. vanilla sugar (save extra for another use); bake until crusts are golden, 20–25 minutes.

This article was first published in Saveur in Issue #13