This easy lemon tart has a timesaving twist

By Melissa Clark, The New York Times

One August, when I was 10 years old and vacationing with my family in a village in Provence, we decided to try lemon tarts from all the patisseries within a 20-minute drive. Every day, we’d pick up our sample to rigorously evaluate its merits and flaws. Was the pastry as crisp and crumbly as a cookie? Was the curd silky smooth, yet sharp enough to make you squint before the buttery sweetness hit?

This recipe meets those criteria and more, and even features a timesaving tweak. Instead of a classic tart crust, which needs a rolling pin and all your patience, I use a foolproof, smoosh-it-into-the-pan dough made with melted butter. It’s a breeze to throw together and bakes up as crunchy as a shortbread cookie, but it’s thin enough that there’s plenty of room for the lemon curd filling.

Besides being easy, the melted butter has a surprising advantage. Cook it until the foamy white milk solids fall to the ...