Strawberry Mascarpone Tart with Balsamic Glaze

I finally had an excuse to make this! The cover of April's issue of Gourmet Magzine was this tart and I desperately wanted a reason to make it. It had a light pastry crust, a no-bake mascarpone filling, and topped off with macerated strawberries with a port glaze. Yes - the recipe calls for port. Unfortunately - Kyle lives in a "dry county" and due to the high alcohol content and addition of brandy to port wine, it was sold only in liquor stores. After searching downtown Dallas en route to Kyle's friends house, we only found 1 liquor store and port was not sold there (but they had plenty of 1.75L bottles of Gallo pink wine!). So after getting closer to her friends' house, we realized we had entered BACK into a dry county. Alright - time for a solution. What's the next best thing? Balsamic vinegar. Alright - now to find a grocery store!! Once again, found ourselves driving up and down streets in a mostly mexican neighborhood or something - because we passed plenty of supermercado's and discount food plus or whatever thats supposed to be - but I didn't think we'd find balsamic vinegar in a mexican grocery store. My dad was convinced, though. So we came upon a super super mercado - El Rio Grande! I bet they were the only 2 white people in there - and just like I thought... no balsamic. About ready to give up (well, I wasn't - I was counting on my dessert to be nothing short of amazing, and the absence of this ingredient would probably have ruined my whole weekend) we finally found a white super market. Yay! Balsamic vinegar was purchased and we were on our way!
Alright, enough cheese. But seriously - if you ever want to impress guests, make this dessert. It is really good!

Strawberry Mascarpone Tart with Balsamic Glaze
serves 8 (and seriously - no more!)

For tart shell:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• Rounded 1/4 tsp salt
• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons cold water

For filling:

• 1 1/2 lb strawberries (about 1 1/2 qt), trimmed and halved lengthwise
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup ruby Port - or in my case, substitute with Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 lb mascarpone (about 2 cups)
• 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1T chopped fresh mint leaves (don't substitute with dry, just leave out completely unless you have fresh mint)

Equipment - a 10-inch fluted tart pan with removable bottom; pie weights or dried beans

Directions:

Make tart shell:

• Blend together flour, sugar, salt, and butter in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Beat together yolk, vanilla, lemon juice, and water with a fork, then drizzle over flour mixture and stir with fork (or pulse) until mixture comes together.
• Gently knead with floured hands on a lightly floured surface until a dough forms, then gently knead 4 or 5 times. Press into a 5-inch disk. Place in center of tart pan and cover with plastic wrap. Using your fingers and bottom of a flat-bottomed measuring cup, spread and push dough to evenly cover bottom and side of pan. Prick bottom of tart shell all over with a fork and freeze until firm, about 10 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle.
• Line tart shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake until side is set and edge is pale golden, about 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and continue to bake until shell is deep golden all over, about 20 minutes more. Cool in pan, about 45 minutes.

Make Filling While Tart Shell Cools:

• Stir together strawberries and granulated sugar in a bowl and let stand, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes. Strain in a sieve set over a small saucepan, reserving berries. Add Port (or balsamic) to liquid in saucepan and boil until reduced to about 1/4 cup, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl to cool slightly.
• Meanwhile, whisk together mascarpone, confectioners sugar, lemon juice, zest, vanilla, and a pinch of salt until stiff.

Assemble Tart:

• Spread mascarpone mixture evenly in cooled tart shell, then top with strawberries. Drizzle Port glaze all over tart. I would suggest waiting until near time to serve before topping the tart, otherwise the glaze may start to spread and the tart will be slightly less attractive. I also added some fresh chopped mint to the strawberries for color.
  

Hope you enjoy as much as we did!

Submitted by Lauren