What’s all the fuss about grain-free this and grain-free that?  Should you be grain-free?  Is it healthier to abstain from grains?  Maybe. Or not.  Grains can be difficult for some people to digest.  This can be true.  Some people think that abstaining from grains will help them lose weight. It’s possible.  But I think whole grains are good for you, especially if you can take time to soak them before cooking (read this post) and as long as you don’t overeat them since they do contain a fair amount of carbohydrates which can spike your blood sugar.  I touched on this in my last post.

I am also a fan of mixing it up a little and I love having a few good grain-free recipes in my repertoire, especially since so many people I know are going grain-free right now, even if they don’t know why.  Wink, wink.  When I taught this tart in my classes a while back, most people loved the recipe because the crust is a press-in crust and not one you roll out.  That was the excitement about this tart — no pastry-making, no rolling, no anxiety.  Fair enough.  This is a really easy crust to make and I actually like the way it tastes better than traditional pastry.  It has a more interesting nutty flavor and great texture.  Let this be your “back pocket” grain-free/gluten-free tart crust.

The balsamic-roasted strawberries are one way to go with this, and I love the combination of sweet aged balsamic vinegar and strawberries.  I may sound odd, but it’s a very classic and delicious sweet-tart combination.  Plus when the juices from the strawberries mingle with the syrupy balsamic, it’s absolute heaven.  Try pouring those on top of Greek yogurt or ice cream.  But you can essentially fill this tart shell with almost anything!  Cream fillings, Greek yogurt, fresh fruit, cooked fruit, ice cream all work here.  The crust is totally neutral and will be perfect with anything.   I am posting this now because I think it would be ideal for Easter which is in 2 weeks or for Passover next month.

One caveat with a lot of grain-free crusts — they get soggy a little faster than regular pastry crusts, so I fill them at the last minute.  Make this the day before if you want and let it sit at room temperature and then make your filling separately and fill just before serving for maximum crispness.  Of course, you could melt some chocolate and spread that on the finished crust to form a barrier of sorts, but that’s a whole other thing.

You can also make mini-tarts as shown above which is super fun.  I was able to make 5 6-inch tarts with this recipe.  How cute would it be to have a platter with all sorts of mini tarts and different fruits?  Answer:  really, really cute!