Seville Orange Tartlets And Curd

Preparation

1. Step 1

   To prepare the pastry, combine flour and butter in a small bowl, and place in freezer for 10 minutes. With a food processor, pulse mixture until it resembles coarse bread crumbs. While running the processor, gradually pour 5 tablespoons juice down feed tube until mixture forms a ball. Turn pastry onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Pat into a flat disk. Enclose disk in wrap, and refrigerate.

2. Step 2

   To prepare the orange curd, beat eggs, yolks and sugar in a wide, shallow saucepan until smooth. Add butter, orange juice and zest. Place over low heat, and stir constantly until butter has melted and mixture has thickened. (If mixture begins to curdle, place bottom of pan in cold water, and beat vigorously.) Remove thickened curd from heat, and pour through a fine strainer into a bowl. Set aside to cool.

3. Step 3

   Heat oven to 400 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out pastry to about ⅛ inch. With a 3-inch-diameter fluted cutter, cut 24 disks, rerolling and cutting scraps if necessary. Press disks into two tartlet pans with 12 2½-inch indentations. Put a heaping teaspoonful of orange curd into each tartlet. Curd will spread as it cooks. (Refrigerate any remaining curd to use on breads and pastries.)

4. Step 4

   Bake tartlets until pastry is lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and transfer tartlets to a cooling rack with a small spatula. Serve at room temperature.