A quick one, but a good one - Peach tart.

Back when I was in high school (1997-98: In Melb that is) I could never tell the difference between apricots and peaches. Nevermind the fact that one is tiny in size and the other the size of a 5 year old's^ fist, they both have a stone seed, they are both orangey in colour(!) and when sliced up into small pieces and place right next to each other appear to be the same thing in my eyes.

Perhaps, you're thinking: "you need glasses woman!" or "are you sure you're not ('orange') colour blind?" or "you're just an idiot".

I can assure you that I do not need glasses and am most certainly not orange coloured blind. Umm, that would mean that I must be an idiot. Doh! I just contradicted myself!

Anyway, the point is, I was an ignorant fool (back then) of the large variety of seasonal (by seasonal I mean 4 seasons) fruits and food in general. Hey! What did you expect, I just arrived (fresh off the boat plane) from a tropical country. We have bananas (all ten billion varieties of them), coconuts, mangosteens, pineapples, durians (yuck!), rambutans and papayas (or paw paws) all year round.

The only seasonal fruits I was ever aware of were:

• cherries - from a can or the super red maraschino cherries;
• strawberries - of which I saw a lot on tv and got a slice of occasionally on a purchased cake;
  
• raspberries and blueberries - of which artificial flavours I was very familiar with.
  

So you can't really blame me for being an ignoramus, no?

Anyway, back to peaches and apricots, I can't quite remember what an apricot tastes like but I remember not quite liking the texture of the fruit. I do remember the sweet juicy peaches that my dad used to peel and slice for me ;) There's just something about the crunchy texture and juicy flavour of peaches that just makes me swoon..... *ahem*

Unfortunately, we're right smack in the middle of winter at the moment and there are just no peaches to be found. (boo!)

So, because I was really craving for some peaches the other day, I had to resort to the canned stuff; and because I've had this image of a tart in my head for the last few weeks and REALLY because I am (SECRETLY) a very lazy person, this was what I whipped up on a whim to satisfy my cravings:

(Geez, how many 'because/s' can I come up with?)

Quick and easy Peach Tarts
Serves me 6

You will need:

1 sheet of puff pastry (I used store bought pastry - see! told you I was lazy!)
some sliced peaches (I used canned peaches)
1 egg, beaten (as egg wash)
icing sugar for dusting

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 deg C.
   
2. Slice peaches into thin slices. (Since I used quartered peaches, I just sliced the quarters in half)
3. Divide the sheet of puff pastry into 6 rectangles and place onto a lined tray.
4. Brush tarts with egg wash and bake in oven for 5 - 8mins until it just starts to puff.* Remove from oven.
   
5. Arrange the sliced peaches in the middle of the tart and return to oven for another 5 - 8mins until the pastry is golden. Remove from oven.
   
6. Let it cool for a few minutes before dusting with icing sugar and serve.
   

*Notes:
The only reason I didn't place the peaches directly onto the puff pastry and straight into the oven (in one go) is because I was using canned peaches which were already super ripe as it is. I didn't really want to 'cook' my peaches too long for fear of losing the crunchiness.

If you have fresh peaches, it would probably be even yummier if you sprinkled some icing sugar onto them and placed them directly into the oven with the puff pastry. Creates a bit of a caramalised effect I reckon. (this is only a theory of course) You would then bake the tarts for slightly longer that the above suggested time. Maybe 10mins or so.

My verdict: Quick, easy and very satisfying.

----

^I just picked a random number off my head.