Pumpkin and hazelnut tart part two

2017-11-22 In our previous post we gave you the ingredients for a delectable Pumpkin and hazelnut tart created by Chef Mario Grazia for one of Academia Barilla’s recipe books. We also explained how to make the hazelnut pastry.

Remember that the recipe is fairly easy to make. With the shortcrust pastry already prepared, it takes 45 minutes plus 25-30 minutes cooking time to finish the tart.

Now let’s see how to make the pumpkin filling and bake the tart.
• Rinse the pumpkin, cut it into chunks and bake at 180 °C for around half an hour, or until it is soft. To prevent it from drying out, cover the pumpkin with a sheet of baking foil.
• Leave the pumpkin to cool down, then remove the seeds and filaments and puree it using a vegetable mill or food processor.
• Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl, then sieve in the flour and stir well.
• Bring the cream to the boil in a small saucepan with the vanilla pod (score it first with a knife). Pour it over the beaten egg yolks, whisking thoroughly, then return the mixture to the saucepan and cook it as you would a crème anglaise.
• Remove the vanilla pod and leave the mixture to cool down completely before mixing in the pureed pumpkin. Grate over the zest of a lemon to add flavour.
• Line an 18-20 cm diameter cake tin with 250 g of the hazelnut pastry, which you’ve rolled out to 3 mm thick (the remaining pastry can be kept in the fridge for several days before use, or stored in the freezer for up to two months).
• Add the filling and smooth it flat.
• Scatter over the roughly chopped toasted hazelnuts and sieve over plenty of icing sugar.
• Bake at 180 °C for around half an hour. Leave the tart to cool down completely before removing it from the tin.

Mariagrazia Villa

Recipe: Chef Mario Grazia (Academia Barilla).
Source: Academia Barilla (ed.), Crostate. 50 Ricette Facili, Edizioni White Star, Novara, 2015.