Colorful cheese tart delivers rich and tasty mouthfuls

This Gorgonzola cheese tart with its blackberry-port sauce is going to make a colorful statement whenever it’s offered.

First off, it’s a great appetizer. It’s quite rich, and a small slice is a perfect hors d’oeuvre or cocktail nibbler. However, it does need to be served on a plate, since the blackberry-port sauce is either spooned over or put on the plate before adding a slice of tart. This sauce makes a great taste contrast, the berries’ fruitiness balancing the savory cheese.

The cheese tart could also be served as an elegant first course for a special dinner.

Equipment note: The recipe calls for a 17-by-8-inch tart pan, but you may substitute a standard 9-inch round tart pan (with removable bottom). And if the cook is pressed for time, instead of making the crust from scratch, a bought frozen crust could be substituted and rolled into the desired size and shape.

Gorgonzola Cheese Tart with Blackberry-Port Sauce

Recipe created for The Associated Press by the Oregon Raspberry and Blackberry Commission

For the pastry:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 -inch cubes

2 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 to 4 tablespoons ice water

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

For the filling:

1 cup heavy cream

1 large egg

2 egg yolks

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

5 ounces chilled Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled (1 1/2 cups)

1/2 cup frozen blackberries

For the Blackberry-Port Sauce:

16-ounce bag frozen blackberries, thawed

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup ruby port wine

1 teaspoon salt

To make tart shell crust:

Blend flour, butter, shortening and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until most of mixture resembles coarse meal with small (roughly pea-size) butter and shortening lumps.

Drizzle evenly with 2 tablespoons ice water and gently stir with a fork (or pulse in processor) until incorporated. To test for texture, squeeze a small amount of dough in hand: If it doesn’t hold together, add more ice water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until just incorporated, then test again. (If you overwork mixture, pastry will be tough.)

Turn out mixture onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 4 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion. Gather dough together with scraper and press into a ball. Flatten into a 5-inch disk. Chill dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.

(Dough can be chilled up to 1 day ahead. Let stand at room temperature until slightly softened, about 20 minutes, before rolling out.)

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin into a 17-by-8-inch rectangle and fit into a 17-by-8-inch tart pan. Trim excess dough. Lightly prick bottom and sides all over with fork. Sprinkle walnuts across crust; press to set into crust. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line pastry shell with foil and fill with pie weights or dry beans. Bake in middle of oven for 20 minutes, then carefully remove foil and weights and bake until golden, 10 to 15 minutes more. Cool shell in pan 20 minutes.

To make filling: Whisk together cream, whole egg, yolks, salt and pepper until combined. Put tart shell (still in pan) on baking sheet and scatter cheese evenly in shell. Arrange frozen blackberries on top of cheese. Slowly pour custard into shell and bake in middle of oven until golden around edges of filling and custard is just set, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool tart completely on a rack.

Cut tart and serve at room temperature topped with Blackberry-Port Sauce.

To make Blackberry-Port Sauce: In a medium bowl, mix together blackberries, sugar, port and salt. Mash berries lightly with fork, so that some berry pieces remain. Serve spooned over tart or ladled under tart on plate.

Yield: 12 to 14 appetizer servings.

Approximate nutrition per serving: Unable to calculate.