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Strawberry & Pistachio Cream Tart

When we were designing our spring dessert menu recently we came up with this French inspired creation. The combination of sweet-tart strawberries and pistachio pastry cream is heavenly and the colors are really beautiful together too. Decorating the tart with strawberries isn’t hard, and it always produces great results.

Total Time: 2 hours
Active Time: 1 hour
Serves 8 to 10
Special Equipment: 10-inch fluted tart shell with removable bottom

Ingredients

Tart Dough

2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ sticks (¾ cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg yolk
3 tablespoons ice water (roughly)

Pistachio Pastry Cream

1½ cups finely ground pistachios
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream
¾ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1½ teaspoons almond extract
¼ cup crème fraîche or sour cream

Strawberries

2 10-oz containers strawberries, tops trimmed off, thinly sliced
¼ cup honey
Mint sprigs for garnish

Preparation

Tart Dough

Preheat the oven to 375° F.

Put flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine. If you don’t have a food processor, whisk the flour and remaining ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the butter and pulse until mixture is the texture of small pebbles (if using your fingers, blend the butter and flour mixture until a moist crumb forms). Whisk the yolks, vanilla and ice water together and add it to the food processor. Pulse again until the dough just comes together. Scoop the dough onto a lightly floured surface and kneed gently once or twice, until the dough and crumbs are combined. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes or overnight.

Roll dough into a 12-inch circle and transfer to the tart pan. Press dough evenly into the pan and up the sides. Trim any excess dough from the edge and, using a fork, prick the bottom of the shell many times. Reserve any remaining dough for another use. Chill tart shell in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Line the shell with parchment paper or tin foil and add baking beans.
Bake tart until shell is golden at the edges, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the baking beans and cook the shell for another 8 to 10 minutes, or until bottom is lightly golden and cooked through. Cool.

Pistachio Pastry Cream

Whisk the pistachios, whole milk, heavy cream and ¼ cup sugar together in a saucepan until steaming. Turn off the heat and let the mixture steep for 15 minutes. In the mean time, whisk the remaining sugar, salt, egg yolks and cornstarch together in a bowl until pale yellow. Bring the pistachio cream back to a simmer over low heat and then gently whisk it into the egg mixture in the bowl. Return the whole mixture back to the saucepan and bring to a boil, whisking consistently so that clumps don’t form. Turn off the heat and stir in the vanilla and almond extracts.
Place a sieve over a bowl and strain the pastry cream through it, pressing on the sieve with a rubber spatula to push the pastry cream through. Whisk in the crème fraîche or sour cream and cool slightly. Transfer the pastry cream to the tart shell, spreading it evenly.

Strawberries

Top the tart with strawberry slices, beginning at the outer edge with the tips facing out. Layer the slices in a fish scale pattern, overlapping each layer. Heat the honey in a small saucepan over low heat until loose. Brush a light layer of the honey over the strawberries and garnish with a mint sprig.

Asparagus Bisque with Crab

You know that spring is on its way when asparagus begin showing up at markets around San Francisco. Their bright green stalks are delicious in almost anything, including this bisque, which captures the delicate flavors of this quintessential spring vegetable. We’ve topped it with a little lemon crème fraîche and a spoonful of local Dungeness crab and the colors look beautiful together. Perfect for spring!

Active Time: 45 minutes
Serves 8 as a first course

Ingredients

Asparagus Bisque

2½ lbs asparagus
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 leek, whites and pale greens finely chopped
1½ celery stalks, diced
1 small russet potato, peeled and diced into ½” pieces
1½ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
6 cups vegetable stock – we like Rapunzel Brand vegetable bouillon
½ cup heavy cream
¼ cup crème fraîche

Lemon Crème Fraîche

½ cup crème fraîche
1 teaspoon lemon zest (use a Meyer lemon if possible)

Garnish

¼ lb Dungeness crab
1 bunch lemon thyme

Preparation

Asparagus Bisque

Snap the ends off of the asparagus and discard. Prepare an ice-water bath. Fill a large saucepan with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add asparagus and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Drain and immediately transfer to ice-water bath to cool. Drain and set aside.

In another large heavy stockpot, heat the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions, leeks and celery and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft. Add potatoes, salt, pepper and vegetable stock, reserving 1 cup of the broth on the side. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until potatoes are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the asparagus (reserve a few of the smallest stalks for garnish if you want to) and continue to cook for another 2 minutes.

Using a blender, puree the soup in batches until very smooth. Once all of the soup has been pureed, add more broth if it is too thick. Whisk in the heavy whipping cream and crème fraîche and season with more salt if needed.

Lemon Crème Fraîche

Whisk ingredients together in a small bowl until crème fraîche is slightly stiff – like whipped cream.

To Serve

Ladle the soup into bowls. Top with a spoonful of lemon crème fraîche in the center of each bowl. Drag the tip of a knife through the crème fraîche several times to achieve a spiderweb-like design. Place a spoonful of crab in the center of each soup. Garnish with a few asparagus stalks and a sprig of lemon thyme and serve.

Little Spanish Meatballs

These little meatballs are very common in tapas bars throughout Spain. They’re usually served in casuelas, and come to your table bubbling hot with grilled bread on the side. The Spanish term for meatball is albondiga and comes from the Arabic term al bundaq or “round.” The southern tip of Spain is very close to Northern Africa, and as a result they use some of the same spices in their dishes. These meatballs have tons of flavor, but aren’t that spicy-hot. You can add more of one spice or omit another to make the recipe fit your own taste. If you can’t find urfa biber, the ground sun-dried Turkish pepper we use in the meatball mixture and sauce, you can always add a bit of smoked paprika in it’s place.

Active Time: 1¼ hours
Makes 70 little meatballs

Ingredients

Meatballs

½ cup onion, very finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated
1½ lbs ground beef
1 lb ground pork
¼ cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
¾ cup breadcrumbs
½ teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
1 teaspoon urfa biber* (optional)
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper

1½ cups all-purpose flour for dredging
1 cup olive oil for frying

Spiced Tomato Sauce

1 cup onion, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
¾ cup dry red wine
1 tablespoon tomato paste
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon urfa biber* (optional)
1 teaspoon sumac** (optional)
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon honey
1 28-oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper

*urfa biber is a sun-dried, ground Turkish pepper that gives these meatballs a sweet, richly spicy quality. You can find it at specialty food stores and online at www.worldspice.com.

**sumac is a deep reddish-purple spice that is commonly used in Middle Eastern and North African cuisine, and as a result, can be found in dishes in southern Spain. It has a bright, tart flavor and is slightly floral. If you can’t find sumac, just squeeze half a lemon into the sauce. You can buy sumac at www.thespicehouse.com.

Garnish

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 cup shaved Manchego cheese (we use a vegetable peeler to produce nice shavings).
1 sliced baguette, drizzled with olive oil and grilled until crispy. If you don’t have a grill or stove-top grill pan, toast the bread in a sauté pan.

Preparation

Meatballs

In a bowl, combine the onion, garlic, meat, parsley, egg, breadcrumbs, spices, salt and pepper. Using your hands, mix to combine – try not to overwork the mixture or the meatballs will be tough.

Dampen hands. Using a small ice cream scoop or a tablespoon measuring spoon, shape the meat mixture into 1-inch balls. Spread the flour in a shallow bowl. One at a time, roll the meatballs in the flour, coating evenly and then shaking off any excess.

In a large frying pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches to avoid crowding, add the meatballs and sear until golden on all sides and cooked through, about 10 minutes per batch. Transfer to plate. If the pan becomes too dry as you’re cooking the meatballs, add more olive oil.

Spiced Tomato Sauce

Add onion and garlic to the frying pan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until softened, about 8 minutes. Add the red wine and simmer until reduced by half, scraping up all of the bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the tomato paste and spices and cook for 1 minute, or until fragrant. Next add the honey, tomato sauce, fire roasted tomatoes, salt and pepper and simmer over medium heat until the sauce thickens, about 15 minutes. Return the meatballs to the pan, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until the meatballs are fully cooked in the sauce, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley before serving.

To Serve

Transfer the meatballs to a serving bowl and top with the shaved Manchego and chopped parsley. Serve with grilled bread on the side.