The Tarte au citron de Menton and the Fête du Citron®

Tomorrow ends the famous Fête du Citron in Menton, a unique event in the world involving 300 professionals and the use of 145 tons of citrus fruits! Born in Menton in 1934, the Lemon Festival attracts more than 230,000 visitors every year. Parades of decorated floats are organized on the Promenade du Soleil, while spectacular temporary sculptures are set up in the Jardins Biovès which reach up to ten meters in height.

Seeing all these images of lemons made me want to "Tarte au citron de Menton" and I want to share with you the authentic recipe:

INGREDIENTS FOR SABLEE' PASTA:

250gr. of flour

125 g. of sugar

100 g. of butter

1 egg

Put the flour, the sugar, the cold butter cut into small pieces and the egg in a bowl. Mix everything by hand, for a few minutes, until a sufficiently homogeneous paste is obtained. Roll out the dough the size of your cake pan. Cover the bottom of the pan with baking paper and transfer the dough.
Prick the dough with a fork and bake for 12-15 minutes at 180 degrees.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE FILLING:

7 level spoons of cornstarch

150 g. of sugar

4 eggs

6 organic IGP lemons from Menton

Put the cornstarch in a saucepan and mix with the sugar and eggs.
Take the six lemons, grate the zest of one and a half lemons and add it to the mixture. Squeeze the six lemons, the juice is added to the pot with a volume of water equal to its own.
Over medium heat and stirring constantly with a spatula, bring to the boil and when the cream thickens, continue cooking for two or three minutes over very low heat.
Leave to cool and fill the sableé pastry, which you have cooked in the meantime, avoiding that it overflows.
Put back in the oven for 12-15 minutes at 180 degrees.

If you have some cream left over, you can add a little fresh cream and get a delicious Mentone Lemon cream to pour into small bowls and leave to cool in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Happy tasting!