HAZELNUT PASTRY SHELL
Central Otago hazelnuts make a wonderful crisp, sweet, gluten-free pastry.
1¼ cups hazelnuts, roasted and skinned 1 cup rice flour 100g butter softened, not melted ½ cup sugar 1 large egg white
Place nuts in a processor and blitz to a crumb. Don’t over blend at this point or it will turn into a paste. Add flour and blitz until mix has formed a fine, sandy flour.
In a mixing bowl beat butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add nut flour, mix until combined, and then stir in egg white. Dough should be soft and slightly sticky.
Tip onto a piece of waxed paper
or plastic wrap and press into a disc. Chill for at least 30 minutes. (It will keep for a week in the fridge, and freezes well.)
Preheat oven to 160°C. Line the base and sides of a 26cm springform cake tin. Press pastry dough evenly into base and 3cm up the sides of the tin, ensuring no holes.
To blind bake, cover pastry with baking paper and weigh it down with baking beans. Bake for 20 minutes, remove paper and beans and bake for a further 5 to 10 minutes or until pastry is set and lightly golden. The pastry shell is now ready to fill. It will keep for a couple of days in a sealed container.