Blood Orange Tartlettes

Instructions

1. For the crust: In a food processor (or mixing bowl), combine flour, almonds, sugar, salt, and orange zest. Pulse briefly to mix (or whisk together). Add butter and pulse several times until mixture resembles coarse meal (with mixer, beat until it looks like pebbles). With the machine running, add egg yolk, then water, stopping as soon as the dough starts to clump together (or beat with a mixer until a dough forms). Remove the dough and gently form it into two small flat disks. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least one hour.
2. On a lightly floured surface (or still in the plastic wrap), roll out each disk into a 6 inch circle. Gently fit each dough into two 4-inch tart pans. If you have edges to hang over, fold them towards the inside of the pan and form a thicker crust. Freeze for 10 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 375F. Place a piece of foil over each tart crust and fill with pie weights or dried beans (or rice or dried peas). Bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and weights, and return to bake for another 5 minutes. Reduce the oven to 350F, and let the tart crust to cool on a wire rack while you begin on the curd.
4. For the curd: In a medium saucepan, whisk together the orange zest, both juices, sugar, egg and egg yolk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes or until it starts to thicken and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter until melted. Let cool for 10 minutes.
5. Place the tart pans on a baking sheet. Pour the curd into the shell, smoothing it out into an even layer. Bake for 25 minutes or until the filling is lightly puffed and set on the edges but still retains a slight wobble in the middle. Let cool to room temperature on a wire rack then chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours before serving.