Serves: 5-6
Prep: 60+ min
Cook Time: 1 hour + 40 min
Pie season is upon us and we thought we'd do something a little different. Nothing warms our bellies like a warm nutty pie with a caramelized top layer, and a beautiful crust. This recipe is perfect for the holidays, and is a great addition to any get together.
Ingredients
Crust
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, in 1/2' cubes
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbs powdered sugar
2 tbs cornstarch
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 large egg
Filling
1/2 cup unsalted pistachios, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup toasted pecans, coarsely chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs
Powdered sugar (for dusting)
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 cup light corn syrup
Process
Crust
Preheat the oven to 375°
Whisk 1 cup flour, baking powder, cornstarch, and salt in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and powdered sugar in another medium bowl until it is fully incorporated. Add the egg, and continue to mix well. Add in the dry ingredients in 3 sections. Form the dough into a ball, and flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface. Transfer the dough to a pie pan. Make sure to press the dough onto the bottom and sides of the pan. Trim dough around the edges and save the extra. Prick the pie dough with a fork and freeze for about 10 minutes.
Line the tart shell with foil or parchment paper. Fill the pan with dried beans and bake until edges of crust are just beginning to golden brown, about 35–40 minutes. Remove foil and dried beans. Patch any cracks in crust with reserved dough. Return the pie into the oven, and continue baking until golden all over. This should be another 15 minutes or so. Transfer the crust onto a wire racklet and let cool cool completely.
Filling
Preheat the oven to 350°
Separately roast your nuts in a small baking sheet. Toast nuts until fragrant and light brown in appearance. This would be about 5 minutes for pistachios, 10 minutes for pine nuts, and 15 minutes for pecans. Let the nuts all cool down completely, so that they are able to be chopped.
Next melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, and cook for about 5 minutes or until golden brown bits form along the bottom of the pan. Remove from the heat and save for later.
Add brown sugar, corn syrup, salt, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Stir in eggs, and whisk in the browned butter. Fold in the nuts and pour the filling into tart shell.
Bake tart, rotating the pan halfway through, until filling is set around edges. You'll want the tart to jiggle slightly in center when shook, about 1 hour. Loosely cover foil over the tart if crust gets too dark.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool and let stand at room temperature. Dust with powdered sugar just before serving. Serve with ice cream, or gelato, if desired.