Strawberry Tart

With Valentine's Day this week I decided to post a yummy treat you could make your family for this special day. Strawberries are everywhere for the holiday so I decided to make a Strawberry Tart with them!  The strawberries I found were beautiful and super sweet.  The recipe called for a chocolate ganache on the bottom of the tart,
but I thought Nutella would be even better, and it was! What says love more than strawberries and chocolate?  Even Mike who is not much of a dessert person liked it!  Happy Valentine's Day.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Tart

adapted from http://annies-eats.com

For the crust:

1 large egg yolk

1 tbsp. heavy cream

½ tsp. vanilla extract

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface

2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar

¼ tsp. salt

8 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes

Chocolate layer:

Nutella

For the filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

½ cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

½ tsp. vanilla extract

2 tbsp. milk or cream

For topping:

Fresh strawberries, sliced (approximately 12 oz.)

Melted bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, for drizzling (optional)

Directions:

To make the tart shell, whisk together the egg yolk, cream and vanilla in a small bowl; set aside.  Place the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor.  Process briefly to combine.  Scatter the butter pieces over the flour mixture; process to cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about fifteen 1-second pulses.  With the machine running, add the egg mixture and process until the dough just comes together, about 12 seconds.  Turn the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and press into a 6-inch dish.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 48 hours.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator.  (If refrigerated for more than an hour, let stand at room temperature until malleable.)  Unwrap and roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to a 13-inch round.  Transfer the dough to a 9-inch tart pan.  Mold the dough to the sides of the tart pan and remove the excess off the top.  Set the dough-lined tart pan on a large plate and freeze for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, adjust an oven rack to middle position.  Preheat the oven to 375° F.  Set the dough-lined tart pan on a baking sheet, press a 12-inch square of foil into the frozen shell and over the edge, and fill with pie weights.  Bake for 30 minutes, rotating halfway through the baking time.  Remove from the oven and carefully remove the foil and weights.  Continue to bake until deep golden brown, 5-8 minutes longer.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Spread the Nutella in an even layer over the bottom of the cooled tart shell.  

To make the filling, beat together the cream cheese and confectioners' sugar in a bowl on medium-high speed until smooth.  Blend in the vanilla and milk or cream.  Spread the cream cheese mixture over the Nutella in the tart shell.

Starting from the outside and working toward the center, place the sliced strawberries in concentric circles slightly overlapping each other.  Gently press the berries into the cream cheese mixture to help keep them in place.  Drizzle with melted chocolate, if desired.  Chill until ready to serve.