These little strawberries are ripening fast, and in a couple of weeks the boom will be over. Yesterday we went picking with the idea of making pies. Wild strawberries (also known as wood strawberries) grow in a bunch of different areas--on roadsides, along rocky river beds, in open fields and forests. If you take a walk this week, chances are you'll see some. But be warned, unless you find a really good patch, filling a whole jar can be seriously time consuming. I decided to make small individual tarts (3" in diameter) because picking enough for a normal pie would have taken us the entire week. I do prefer the wild strawberries to the giant-sized ones you find in the store, but that's a personal thing; their taste reminds me of the jams my grandmother used to make.
Enjoy!
Yields 6 small tarts
Dough
• 1 cup flour • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter • 2 tablespoons sugar • 1/4 teaspoon salt
Mix together the flour, sugar and salt. Rub the flour with the butter until you get a coarse sandy texture. Then add just enough cold water to make a smooth dough, about 2 – 3 tablespoons. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.
Ingredients
• 1 1/2 cup wild strawberries • 1/4 cup sugar
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Mix the strawberries and sugar in a bowl and let sit for 15 minutes, turning the mixture with a spoon once or twice. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to about 1/8" thick. With a glass or cookie cutter, trim out 6 rounds that are larger than your molds. Line each buttered mold with the dough and pre-bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Trim out the edges of the dough and fill with the strawberry mixture. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Leave to cool at room temperature for 30 minutes.