Strawberry and pistachio tart

It’s a great way to end the strawberry season. I knew beforehand that the combination of strawberries and pistachios would be good, but I didn’t expect it to be so tasty! The tart base is made from shortcrust pastry with the best pistachio filling made from pistachio cream and fresh strawberries – you can’t get bored of these flavours. A delicious tart with creamy filling, not only aimed at pistachio lovers :).

Ingredients for the shortcrust pastry:

• 200 g plain flour
• 90 g butter, cold and diced
• 30 g lard, cold and diced
• 60 g icing sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 2 – 3 Tbsp cold water

In a bowl, add sifted plain flour, butter and lard. Mix until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add icing sugar, salt, and water, then knead very gently until the ingredients are gathered together and almost smooth (alternatively, you can use a food processor). Pat it into a flat shape, wrap it in cling film and place it in the fridge for 30 – 60 minutes.

Grease a tart tin (24 cm in diameter) with butter and sprinkle with plain flour. Take the pastry out of the fridge and roll it out to a thickness of about 3 mm. Then, gently place it into a tart tin and back in the refrigerator to cool for another 30 minutes. After this time, sprinkle the pastry with plain flour and place a piece of baking paper on top. Place ceramic balls on the paper to weigh it down (you can also use dried beans or uncooked rice).

Heat the oven to 220°C. Then, lower to 200°C and put the shortcrust pastry base into the oven to bake for 15 minutes. Remove the tart pan from the oven and remove the baking paper with the ceramic balls. Lower the temperature to 180°C and place the shortcrust pastry back into the oven for another 10 minutes, until golden brown and dry. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Ingredients for the pistachio and mascarpone cream:

• 200 g pistachio cream
• 250 g mascarpone cheese, chilled

In a mixing bowl, add mascarpone cheese and mix. Add pistachio cream and mix until creamy and combined.

Also:

• 500 g strawberries
• unsalted pistachio nuts chopped (pistachio slivers)

Spread the cream on the shortcrust pastry base and lay the strawberries (cut in half) on top. Sprinkle in pistachios.

Store in the fridge. Before serving, take it out of the fridge 30 minutes earlier so the base softens slightly (the shortcrust pastry tends to harden in the refrigerator).

Enjoy!