The orange is the prince fruit of winter: it ripens in November and is available until spring, and with its load of vitamins and antioxidants, it is a panacea for the body, tested at this time of the year by the coldest temperatures. In all forms, it offers a concrete help to strengthen the immune system and thus ward off the risk of getting sick with fever and cold. If they are excellent eaten as fruit at the end of a meal or in a salad, or even squeezed at breakfast, why not also use oranges to prepare a tart to eat at any time of the day?
Whether they are red or blonde, oranges are really one of the fruits richest in antioxidants, which help combat cellular aging, but also strengthen the immune system and make us less vulnerable to many diseases. Two oranges a day provide the right amount of vitamin C needed, while if we eat them raw, in salads with other vegetables, they also have draining properties. The white skin just under the peel then, even if it has a slight bitterish aftertaste, helps the intestine in the absorption of sugars and fats, while the citric acid of which they are rich stabilizes the pH and improves digestive capacity, also giving a hand to the metabolism. Let's say we have one more excuse to put it in our sweets, right!
Orange Tart
Ingredients
For the dough: 2 cups flour, ½ cup butter, 1 egg and 1 yolk, 1 pinch of salt, the peel of an untreated lemon, 1 cup brown sugar
For the filling: 4 ½ oz brown sugar, 3 oz butter, 2 oz toasted and chopped hazelnuts, 3 untreated oranges, 4 eggs
Method
First prepare the shortcrust pastry: on a pastry board place the flour in a fountain, add the sugar, the lemon rind, the salt and the soft, chopped butter.
Start kneading quickly, using only your fingertips.
Add the yolk and whole egg and finish working.
When you have obtained a homogeneous mixture, wrap it in a sheet of film and let it rest in the fridge for an hour.
In the meantime, prepare the filling. In a bowl, break the eggs, grate the rind of two oranges on top, add the caster sugar and stir to avoid lumps.
In a small saucepan melt the butter in a bain-marie and when it is warm, add it to the eggs and sugar.
Add also the filtered juice of the 2 oranges.
Remove the dough from the fridge and with the help of a rolling pin roll it out on a pastry board.
Grease a cake tin with a diameter of 28 cm, dust it with flour and then roll out the shortcrust pastry into it.
Prick the bottom with the prongs of a fork, roll out the chopped hazelnuts on top and then add the orange and egg mixture.
Level with a spatula, lower the edges of the cake forming a curb, clean and peel the third orange and cut it into thin slices and decorate the surface of the cake with these.
Bake at 180° for 25-30 minutes and, when the cake is cooked, let it cool before cutting it.