The pomegranate, or more correctly, the pomegranate it is a slightly strange fruit because it is good (e healthy) to be enjoyed alone, beautiful to serve, especially as a decoration of dishes, but little used in the creation of real ones recipes. Either way, it's said to bring a lot of luck around the house, so stock up on it during this time!

Let's start with pomegranate juice

With pomegranate it is excellent juice, rich in vitamins and antioxidants.
It is obtained simply by squeezing the grains in a potato masher or in a vegetable mill, or in a juicer or centrifuge.
The same juice can be used to color risottos and creams and can be transformed into jams, liqueurs or jellies.
The bright red of the pomegranate grains immediately brings the atmosphere of Christmas parties to the home and it is nice to add it to salads, in baked vegetables and fruit salads.

Pomegranate tart: pomegranate and apple jam

With the pomegranate, or rather with its juice, we want to prepare one pie delicious.
A simple and rustic but at the same time unusual dessert that will amaze your guests.
To prepare this tart let's start from pomegranate and apple jam.
We add the apples to give a little sweetness to this jam which would otherwise be slightly sour.
Once cut into pieces two golden apples, cook them in a fairly high pot with 2.5 l of pomegranate juice, the juice of 1 lemon is 500 g of sugar.
Also leave the peel of apples which contains pectin and will give a perfect consistency to the jam.
Remember to keep the medium-low heat and stir continuously for about an hour.
At the end of cooking, let it cool well if you want to use the jam for the tart, if you want to keep it in glass jars, pour it when it is still boiling and then sterilized all.

Pomegranate tart: vanilla shortcrust pastry

Let's add the scent of vanilla warm, sweet and enveloping, alla pastry which will cover this fresh and sometimes pungent jam.
To prepare the pastry, work with your hands 500 g of flour 00 with 300 g of butter at room temperature e 250 g of powdered sugar.
Take i seeds of a vanilla bean and add them together with 90 g of eggs. If possible, weigh the eggs, once shelled, to get the perfect doses. If you have a vanilla bean, replace it with a teaspoon of natural vanilla extract.
Once the compound is worked, you will get a smooth and uniform dough.
Wrap it in plastic wrap and keep it in the refrigerator for an hour.
After this time, divide the pastry in half and roll out a part to line one 24 cm tart mold, greased and floured.
Prick the bottom with a fork and pour the jam.
At this point you can completely cover the surface with the remaining shortcrust pastry, or you can make a classic grid and decorate it with flowers and leaves always made with shortcrust pastry.

Christmas pomegranate tart

To make this tart even more special and "decorate" it for the holidays, we give you some suggestions.
Enrich the jam with chopped almonds and chocolate chips or make two layers of filling inside the tart: one of pomegranate jam and one of custard.
As for the decoration, you can then indulge yourself with reindeer, saplings and shortcrust pastry stars to be placed on the tart and you can also make a grid, always of shortcrust pastry, with intertwined strips or different in width and positioned in an elegant way.
If you are not skilled in kneading the dough, do not cover the tart, but leave it simple, only with the jam filling, and then add to the surface of the semi whipped cream, one cascade of red fruits and pomegranate grains.
Sprinkle with icing sugar and behold it will be immediately Christmas!

Take a look at the tutorial for some more tips on preparing this tart