Pistachio tarts
Makes 15–20 small tarts
Ingredients
150g shelled pistachios 150g softened, salted butter 150g caster sugar 3 medium-small eggs, beaten (their weight, in shell, should be a touch over 150g in total) 2–3tbspn amaretto A sheet of ready-rolled, all-butter
puff pastry Apricot or raspberry jam A little icing sugar, for sifting over
the tarts
Method
Freeze the pistachios until really hard, then quickly grind until fine. Shake the machine a bit to disperse and desiccate the nuts in as short a time as possible. Put to one side. Using an electric mixer, whisk the butter and sugar in a bowl until white and fluffy—for about 10 minutes for best results.
Now, continuing to whisk, gradually add the beaten eggs, alternately with the amaretto, until both are well incorporated and the mixture is good and thick. Tip in the ground pistachios and briefly, but thoroughly, whisk them in until smooth and palegreen-flecked throughout.
Roll the pastry as thin as you dare—as thin as a 2p piece, if you can. My tart-tray moulds are about 1in deep by 2½in across the top, so use a cutter that’s 3in–3½in, fluted or plain— it matters not. Very lightly grease the moulds, fit with the pastry discs and prick the base of each with a fork two or three times.
Note: always allow the rolledout pastry to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes or so before cutting out—puff shrinks more than most pastry as it cooks.
Preheat the oven to 200˚C/ 400˚F/gas mark 6 and put a flat tray in there to heat up (this helps to cook through and crisp the tart bases). Put a teaspoon of jam into the base of each tart, then top with a rounded tablespoon of the filling; have a mug of boiled water to hand, dipping into it between each tablespoon so the filling slides off easily.
Bake for about 7–8 minutes or until the filling is beginning to puff, then turn the oven down to 180˚C/350˚f/gas mark 4 and finish cooking until the tops are golden brown—about 20 minutes all together. Lift out onto a cooling rack, at which point they will sink slightly, so don’t fret.
Once at room temperature or still slightly warm (don’t serve them hot), sift icing sugar over the tops and serve. Delicious eaten with vanilla-scented and slightly sweetened whipped cream or crème fraîche.