This Strawberry Pistachio Tart is so good. It is a fresh, colourful, summery tart and will satisfy all sweet cravings with loads of flavour and texture. And if like me, you avoid making pastry as much as you can, this tart is even more of a pleasure as you use store bought puff pastry for the crust.

It is an Ottolenghi recipe that I came across on The Guardian’s website. I did not change the recipe too much but did remove the basil from the macerated strawberries as I don’t like basil in sweet recipes. I also replaced the lime with lemon but that was purely as I did not have limes at the time. I found the pastry cream to set quite stiff after 60 minutes in the fridge so suggest to only leave it in the fridge for 30 minutes to set.

The crust is made from store bought puff pastry so it is an easy tart to make. Making the pastry cream is quick and easy, you just need to take care managing the heat when warming the milk and cooking the custard. If you like the flavour of almond you can add a teaspoon of almond extract to the custard – I think that will taste really good with the strawberries and pistachios.

I also think a splash or two of gin will be most welcome when you macerate the strawberries. Enjoy!

Our next Food Photography Workshop will take place on Saturday the 17th of February 2018 and we have a few spaces still available. Our goal for the day is to create a space where we all can play, learn from each other and have a lot of fun doing it. Come be inspired, get creative, get more comfortable with your camera and most importantly play. All the details can be found here and do let me know if you would like to join us for the day at the most beautiful location.

Strawberry Pistachio Tart

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Ingredients

Pastry Cream :
300 ml full cream milk
50 g caster sugar
30 g butter cubed
Scraped seeds from a vanilla pod
1½ tbsp cornflour
2 large egg yolks
good pinch of salt
Macerated Strawberries :
400 g strawberries hulled and cut lengthways
15 g caster sugar
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
Good squeeze of lemon
Pastry Case :
400 g ready-rolled puff pastry sheet
milk for brushing
1½ tsp caster sugar
Handful of pistachios lightly toasted and roughly chopped, to garnish

Instructions

Make the pastry cream by putting the milk, sugar, butter and vanilla in a medium saucepan and place on a medium heat
Gently warm until the butter has melted, making sure the milk does not come to a boil
In a second bowl, whisk the cornflour and egg yolks until smooth
Remove the milk from the heat, then very slowly pour it over the egg yolk mix, whisking continuously until very smooth
Return the mixture to the pan, and cook on a medium heat for eight to 10 minutes, stirring continuously, until the custard bubbles and thickens
Stir in a pinch of salt, then pour the custard into a shallow, heat-proof dish
Cover with cling-film – you want the film actually to touch the surface of the custard, because this will prevent a skin forming – refrigerate for 30 minutes and then let it stand at room temperature to set
Put all the ingredients for the macerated strawberries in a medium bowl, stir gently to combine, then refrigerate for at least an hour, but no longer than three hours
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C
Cut out a 23cm square from a puff pastry sheet and lay this on an oven tray lined with greaseproof paper
Using the back of a knife, score a square inside the pastry to leave a 1.5cm border around the edges (by using the back of a knife, you’ll make sure you don’t cut all the way through the pastry)
Brush the milk evenly all over the pastry, sprinkle evenly with the sugar, then bake for 20 minutes, until risen and golden brown and leave to cool
To assemble :
Gently push down the central square of pastry to create a space for the cream, then spoon in the cream, smoothing the surface as you go
Strain the strawberries through a sieve over a medium bowl and arrange the strawberries on top of it, drizzle with a bit of the strained strawberry liquid, sprinkle over the pistachios, and serve
Adapted from Ottolenghi