Caramelized Pistachio Walnut And Almond Tart Food

LITTLE ONION TARTS WITH GORGONZOLA AND WALNUTS

Steps:

• Make the pastry: Put flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add half the butter and work it into the flour until it resembles damp sand. Add the rest of the butter cubes, the ice water and lemon juice and mix just until the dough comes together. (There will be little chunks of butter in the dough - this makes the pastry flaky.) Form dough into a disk shape, wrap in plastic and flatten to a 1-inch thickness. Refrigerate for at least an hour, or up to a day in advance.
• Make the topping: Put olive oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and brown for about 5 minutes, stirring. Season generously with salt and pepper. Turn heat to medium and cook until onions are soft and well browned, about 10 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. Heat oven to 425 degrees.
• Roll out pastry to about 1/8 inch thickness. Using a cookie cutter or a glass, cut out 2-inch rounds and move them to a plate. Once you've filled the plate, transfer to the refrigerator. Reroll the scraps and continue to cut rounds, chilling as you go. You should have 24 pieces.
• Line 2 baking pans with parchment and lay 12 pastry rounds on each. Put about 1 tablespoon of the caramelized onions on each round, followed by a piece of Gorgonzola. Top each with walnut pieces. Sprinkle with a small pinch of chopped rosemary.
• Transfer to oven; bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Sprinkle each tart with chives, and a speck of fleur de sel, if using. Serve warm or at room temperature.

PISTACHIO AND ALMOND BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Thaw phyllo dough overnight in the fridge, then bring it up to room temperature by setting it on the counter for 1-2 hours.
• Trim phyllo dough to fit your baking dish so you have approximately 40 sheets. (I use a 9x13) Cover with a damp towel. Make sure you keep the dough covered as you work with each sheet to keep from drying out and become brittle.
• In a saucepan on medium-high heat, combine sugar, honey, lemon juice, cinnamon stick, ground cardamom or pod, orange strips and water. Bring to a boil stirring until sugar is dissolved, then reduce heat and let it simmer for 2-3 minute Remove from heat, let it steep for 10 minutes then strain into a measuring cup or bowl and let syrup cool while preparing baklava.
• Butter a 9x13 pan or any other pan you are using. I clarify my butter for this recipe which is just a personal preference. Melt your butter, let it sit for 5-10 minutes, skim the foam off the top and carefully pour off the clear liquid gold off the milk solids on the bottom. Easy peasy. .
• Chop your nuts either with a knife or by pulsing 10-15 times in a food processor until coarsley ground and put in a bowl. Add the cinnamon and cardamom and stir together. Reserve about 1/4 cup for decorating later.
• Time to start layering and buttering! Depending on your sheet count you need to calculate how many sheets per layer. The number of phyllo versus nut layers are up to you but it's important to have a decent base to hold your nut layers so take that into consideration when calculating.
• For 4 layers of nuts use 1 cup per layer, for 5 layers of nuts use 3/4 cups per layer. Your base should be at least have 8-10 sheets of phyllo. Here's my breakdown for 36-40 sheets of phyllo.
• 8-10 sheets for the base.
• Nuts.
• 4-5 Sheets.
• Nuts.
• 4-5 Sheets.
• Nuts.
• 4-5 Sheets.
• Nuts.
• 4-5 Sheets.
• Nuts.
• 8-10 Sheets.
• Each phyllo sheet needs to be brushed liberally (but not dripping) with butter in the pan before laying the next sheet on top . (Tip: I drizzle butter all over each sheet then brush. I find it makes it easier).
• Chill the baklava for 30-45 minutes as it will make cutting it much easier. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and have the lowest rack in the middle and the second one 2 rungs above that one.
• Cut your baklava into square or diamond shapes. Some people only score the top but I cut right through.
• Total baking time is 1 hour and 15 minutes. Place you pan on the lowest rack for the first 45 minutes, turning the pan half way through. Move it to the higher rack for the last 30 minutes or until golden brown all over.
• Have your cooling rack and syrup ready because you'll be pouring the syrup the second it comes out of the oven. The cooling rack is important as the air circulation underneath as it cools prevents the bottom from getting soggy.
• Take your baklava out of the oven and immediately drizzle or spoon all the syrup all over the top. You'll hear it sizzle but this is a good thing. Put a little mound of the reserved nuts on each diamond.
• Let it sit for at least 8 hours or overnight so all the syrup soaks inches It can be kept on the counter with a tea towel over it or in an air tight container for about a week, but really.who has a pan of baklava last a week!

ALMOND PISTACHIO BAKLAVA

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, bring 2 cups sugar, water, honey and lemon juice to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes. Cool., Preheat oven to 350°. Working in batches, combine pistachios and almonds in a food processor; cover and process until finely chopped. Transfer to a large bowl. Stir in cinnamon, nutmeg and remaining sugar; set aside. Brush a 15x10x1-in. baking pan with some of the butter. Unroll one package of phyllo dough; cut stack into a 10-1/2x9-in. rectangle. Repeat with remaining phyllo. Discard scraps., Line bottom of prepared pan with two sheets of phyllo dough (sheets will overlap slightly). Brush with butter. Repeat layers 9 times. (Keep dough covered with a damp towel until ready to use to prevent it from drying out.) Sprinkle with a third of the nut mixture. , Top with 10 layers of buttered phyllo dough and a third of the nut mixture; repeat layers. Top with remaining phyllo dough, buttering each layer. , Using a sharp knife, cut into 1-1/2-in. diamond shapes. Bake until golden brown, 40-45 minutes. Place pan on a wire rack. Slowly pour cooled sugar syrup over baklava. Cover and let stand overnight.

WALNUT CARAMEL TART

Steps:

• Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Put the flour in a food processor with the butter and sugar, and mix until it forms fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and 1-2 tbsp cold water, and pulse to make a firm dough.
• Have ready a 24cm tart tin. Briefly knead the pastry on a lightly floured surface, then roll out to a round about 5cm larger than your tin. Lift onto the tin with the help of your rolling pin, then press into the corners using your finger. Do not trim the pastry. Fill the pastry case with a round of baking parchment and baking beans. Chill for 10 mins. Blindbake for 10 mins, remove the paper and beans, then bake for 5 mins more.
• To make the filling, put the sugar in a large pan with 3 tbsp cold water. Heat gently, stirring to dissolve the sugar. When the sugar is completely dissolved, increase heat and bubble until the syrup has turned a rich caramel colour. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter until it has dissolved, then stir in the cream. Return to the heat and boil hard, stirring until the sauce is thick enough to leave a gap on the base of the pan when you draw your spoon across it. Stir in the walnuts.
• Fill the pastry case with the nut mixture, levelling it with a fork. Return to the oven for 8-10 mins until the filling is bubbling. Cool for 10 mins before removing carefully from the tin. Serve warm or cold.

SALTED CARAMEL WALNUT TART

Steps:

• Let eggs stand at room temperature 30 minutes. In a microwave, heat cream on high for 20 seconds. Keep warm. Meanwhile, in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar and syrup, stirring frequently. Bring to a boil; cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Slowly pour cream into pan; continue stirring constantly (cream may spatter) until well blended. Gradually add butter, stirring until melted. Add vanilla and sea salt; stir until smooth. Cool., Unroll crust into a 9-in. tart pan; trim edges. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400°. Line unpricked crust with a double thickness of foil. Fill with pie weights, dried beans or uncooked rice. Bake on a lower oven rack until edges are golden brown, 10-12 minutes. Remove foil and weights; bake until bottom is golden brown, 3-5 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack., Reduce oven setting to 350°. Whisk eggs into caramel mixture; stir in walnuts. Add filling to crust. Bake until center is just set (mixture will jiggle), 20-25 minutes. Cool completely. Refrigerate leftovers.

WHITE CHOCOLATE-RASPBERRY TART, WITH ALMONDS AND PISTACHIOS

Steps:

• You will need a tart pan with a removable bottom that has been lined with baking parchment.
• Roast the nuts by popping them into a medium oven for 10 minutes or so, until they are just going brown - keep a close eye on them. Put to one side.
• For the tart crust, put the flour, sugar and butter into a food processor and pulse until you have fine crumbs. Add the egg and 2 tablespoons of the water and pulse until a dough ball starts to come together, add the rest of the water gradually until you have a smooth dough. (you may need more or less water).
• Shape the dough into a disk, pop into a plastic bag and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
• When rested, place the dough onto a floured surface and roll it out to fit the tart pan. Trim excess pastry and chill for 20 minutes.
• Heat the oven to 350ºF while the pastry is chilling. After removing the case from the fridge, pop a piece of foil or baking parchment onto the crust and fill with baking beans or pie weights. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, edges should be just tuning brown, remove the weights and cook for 5-10 minutes more, or until golden. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack.
• For the tart filling:.
• Spread the raspberries evenly over the tart crust, sprinkle half the almonds and pistachios over the raspberries.
• In a double boiler, over a gentle heat, melt the chocolate and butter. Stir gently and remove from heat, add the vanilla/almond extract and the cream and stir gently until mixed.
• Pour the chocolate cream over the raspberries and nuts, work quickly as the chocolate will begin to set, smooth top with a spatula or spoon.
• Immediately sprinkle with remaining nuts.
• Refrigerate for 4-5 hours and remove from fridge 30 minutes before serving, dust with icing sugar.
• Notes: If you prefer you can omit the pistachios and another variation is to replace the raspberries with blueberries, although I have not tried it this way. You must use fresh fruit, not frozen. Time does not include refrigeration time.

CARAMELIZED WALNUT TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Transfer crust to 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom, folding in overhang to form double-thick sides. Freeze crust while preparing filling.
• Whisk cream, sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon in heavy large saucepan. Stir in walnuts. Simmer over medium heat until mixture is bubbling and darkens slightly, stirring until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Spread filling evenly in crust. Bake tart until filling is deep golden brown and crust is golden, about 25 minutes. Cool completely in pan on rack. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and store at room temperature.) Remove tart from pan and serve.