This past week turned me into a tart!  Or, at the least, a maker of tarts – baked ones not those that walk the streets in English novels.  In between the green tomato tart that I’ve written about I also made some quiches for a bartered lunch.  And, then I had this basket of what I grew up calling prunes but I have learned to call Italian plums.  They were freshly picked and quite ripe so I felt I had to do something with them.  Fortunately, I needed to send along a thank you to friends who had taken us to dinner so what better way to use up these ripe little beauties than in a thank you tart.

Why do I call the tart a Proome Tart?  When one of my sons was little (to save him embarrassment I won’t mention names), he came to love dried plums (which were then called prunes) which he called proomes.  It took him quite some time to figure out that connection between snacking on proomes and his trips to the potty.  Once the connection was made proomes went off his menu, never to return.  Except when they were fresh ones in a tart.

½ recipe pie pastry of choice (or see Nana’s Flaky Pie Crust in book ideas, An

American Family Cooks) – you will just enough pastry to fit into the

bottom of a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom

About 2 ½ pounds fresh Italian plums or prunes, pitted and sliced in half along

the seam

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup chopped nuts

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Pinch cayenne pepper

10 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured board to a circle about 12-inches in diameter.  Carefully lift the pastry circle and fit it into a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom; fold and press any excess dough into the fluted edge.

Line the shell with parchment paper or foil.  Cover with pie weights (little metal bits made especially for this purpose) or dried beans or rice.  You just need something with a little weight to hold the baking crust flat and won’t disintegrate during baking.

Place in the preheated oven and bake for about 15 minutes or until just set but not baked through.  Do not turn off the oven.

Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

Fit the halved plums into the partially baked shell, cut side down.  Completely cover all of the pastry.

Combine the flour, sugar, nuts, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cayenne in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, processing to just mix.  Add the butter and process until crumbly.

Generously cover the plums with the crumb topping.

Place the tart in the preheated oven and bake for about 35 minutes or until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden brown and crisp.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for at least 15 minutes before removing the outer ring.