LIMONCELLO & BASIL MERINGUE PIE
SERVES 8
INGREDIENTS
• 275g plain flour
• 110g vegan butter, chilled
• ¼ cup (55g) caster sugar
• ¼ cup (60ml) soy milk
LIMONCELLO AND
BASIL FILLING
• 500g silken tofu
• 2 cups (440g) caster sugar
• Finely grated zest of 5 lemons
• Juice of 4 ½ lemons (you will need 110ml lemon juice)
• ¼ cup (60ml) limoncello
• 8 large basil leaves
• ⅓ cup (50g) plain flour
• ⅓ cup (50g) cornflour
VEGAN MERINGUE
• Canning liquid from 400g can chickpeas (cover and chill chickpeas for up to 3 days for another use)
• Pinch citric acid (from supermarkets)
• 1 cup (220g) caster sugar
METHOD
1 To make the pastry, place flour, Nuttelex and sugar in a bowl. Using your fingers, rub together until resembling coarse breadcrumbs. Add milk and stir until combined. Transfer to a floured work surface and press into a flat disc. Enclose in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
2 Grease a 25cm round, fluted, loosebased tart pan.
3 On a lightly floured work surface, roll out pastry to 4mm thick. Transfer to tart pan and press into base and side. Trim excess pastry and chill for 30 minutes.
4 Preheat the oven to 180C.
5 Line tart base with baking paper and pastry weights. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Remove pastry weights and baking paper, and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes or until golden and dry.
6 Reduce the oven to 160C. 7 For the limoncello and basil filling, place tofu on a plate lined with a sheet of paper towel. Top with another sheet of paper towel and a plate, and weigh down with a can. Stand for 15 minutes to press out excess moisture. Transfer drained tofu to a food processor and whiz until smooth. Add sugar and whiz until well combined, then add lemon zest and juice, limoncello, basil, flour and cornflour, and whiz until well combined.
8 Pour the filling over pastry base and bake for 50 minutes or until firm with a slight wobble in the centre. Remove from oven and stand for 45 minutes or until completely cooled, then chill until cold.
9 For the meringue, place chickpea liquid, citric acid and a pinch of salt flakes in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk to stiff peaks. Gradually add sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, whisking until all sugar is dissolved and meringue is thick and glossy (about 8 minutes). Spread meringue over tart and use kitchen blowtorch to caramelise. Serve immediately.