Our buddy Van Cheeseman of Flora at Bluebird Farms got ahold of a bumper crop of satsuma oranges and key limes straight from Florida and passed them along to us. (Go see him yourself at the Tsunami parking lot market this Saturday from 10-1! He grows stuff in the dead of winter that I don't ever see anywhere else this time of year.) So of course during this weird week of sub-freezing Memphis temps, just to dream, we decided to play pretend-vacation and make a key lime tart: instant summer. And it took no time at all to make -- the crust has three ingredients, and the filling only has four.
Crust:
1/2 box of vanilla wafers (I used Back to Nature Madagascar Vanilla Wafers.)
1/4 cup soy margarine
1 tbsp. cane sugar
Crumble the wafers in a food processor or smash them in a bag using a rolling pin. Mix in sugar and melted margarine. Press into pie pan and bake for 5-7 min. at 350. Remove from oven and let it cool.
Key Lime Tart Filling:
juice from 15 key limes (about 3/4 cup)
6 oz. neufchatel cheese
1/2 cup cane sugar
2 eggs
pinch of sea salt
Whisk all ingredients together until smooth and pour into pie crust. Bake at 350 for 30 min. Let it cool and then put it in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving. You can top it with finely grated lime zest.
