Nectarine pie with melt-in-the-mouth sweet pastry

Ready in 1 hour plus resting Serves 6

MELT-IN-THE-MOUTH SWEET PASTRY

360g butter, softened, but not melted ¾ cup sugar

1 egg

3½ cups flour

Pinch of salt

NECTARINE FILLING

6-8 nectarines, destoned and sliced into quarters

2 eggs

½ cup sugar

¾ cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 Tbsp cornflour

1 Tbsp runny honey, to glaze

TO SERVE

Optional 1-2 Tbsp Fig Vincotto, to drizzle

To make the pastry, beat butter and sugar together until creamy and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Add the flour and salt and mix until just combined. Mixture will be quite soft. Using lightly floured hands, pat dough into 3 portions (pat between plastic wrap if desired). Chill one portion for at least 20 minutes or until it is firm enough to roll out. Tightly wrap and freeze the other two portions for later use.

Preheat oven to 180C fan bake. Grease the sides of a 25cm loose-bottom fluted tart tin (round or rectangular) and line the base with baking paper.

Roll the chilled portion of the dough on a piece of baking paper to a size 6cm larger than the diameter of your baking tin.

Flip into prepared tin and press to thinly cover the base and 3cm up the sides, taking care to press evenly into the corners. Repair any small holes or rips with raw pastry. Top pastry with baking paper then dried beans or rice and bake until the pastry is no longer sticky (12-15 minutes). Lift out baking paper and beans or rice (reserving for future use), then return to oven for a further 8-10 minutes or until pastry is cooked and lightly golden. (This process of pre-baking a pastry crust is called baking blind.)

While base is cooking, make the nectarine filling by whisking together the egg, sour cream, vanilla, sugar and cornflour. Place nectarines skin-side down to form two rows on the cooked pastry shell. (If making in a round tin, arrange in concentric circles.) Beat together all remaining filling ingredients except for the honey and pour over the nectarines to fill pie case. Brush tops of nectarines with runny honey. Bake until the filling is set and pastry is a deep golden brown (about 40 minutes). Serve warm or cold, drizzled with Fig Vincotto if desired. NOTE: This is the perfect pastry for any sweet tart, with a fine, buttery texture that is simply sublime. The recipe makes two times more than you will need but is so useful to be able to just pull a packet out of the freezer any time you want to make a sweet tart.

Match this with ...

Cantine di Ora Amicale IGT Verona Pinot Grigio Rosé 2022 ($24)

Not gonna lie, nectarines are my favourite fruit. Fresh off the tree, dried, baked, grilled, poached or tizzied into a tart, I’m all over them. Especially when said tart is served with a large goblet of good rosé like this one. Scented with sea breeze, persimmon and fresh-cut apricot, this Italian example is also deliciously dry. White peach and hints of soft nectarine and cherry punch through and leave a stylishly spicy finish — so it’s the perfect partner with these terrifically tangy tarts. Amicale also means “kind and friendly”. Awww. sapori.co.nz