PISTACHIO TART - a recipe for a very Happy New Year!

Pistachios and orange

As Teen V sits in the other room shelling pistachios and watching Lord of The Rings, I take a moment before I start to bake.

I can’t believe it’s nearly a year since I started Not Just For Rabbits.

I started tentatively not knowing if anyone would actually read it, other than my family, and a few close friends, but little by little it has grown, the hits gone up massively, ok not quite on the scale of the girl who posted photo’s of her school dinners,  but people are coming to the site from all round the world.

 It’s a  fantastic compliment, thank you.

It seemed fitting that it’s New Year’s Eve and this is my 60^th post.

There have been so many highlights to this year it is hard to choose just a few.

2012 started in Wales on the beach with friends and finishes snuggled up at home with the rain lashing outside.

Wales 2012

As I look back over these pages I appreciate all the new experiences and tastes we have had, from the sweetness of Sicily, to the adventure of fishing for our supper in North Usit. Catching lobster and scallops on my birthday!

 Not to mention the simple pleasures of picking one’s own beans, baking fresh bread and meeting other bloggers at the Mums Net Blog Fest. Then there was catching up with old friends in Paris, the lazy lunches and tasty breakfasts- that fig and nut bread was amazing!!Thank you S. The suppers with friends locally and so much more..

 It has been hard with Teen V still recovering slowly from glandular fever, trying to help her appreciate the small progress she makes when everyone around her continues life at twice the pace. Her life will be very different this year as she keeps off the treadmill of school and exams for a while longer. Time for new things, exciting opportunities as she gets her strength back.

In the past at New Year I have made the French Galette du Roi, the traditional epiphany cake. It reminds me of another life, a long time ago, with its delicate frangipane and puff pastry. This year, inspired by my discovery of all things Sicilian I decided to try something new. Torta ai pistacchi or pistachio tart inspired by the recipe by 

Giorgio Locatelli in his Made in Sicily cook book.. a real must have book.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Made-Sicily-Giorgio-Locatelli/dp/0007433697

It combines nuts, with ricotta and a hint of citrus and looks amazing. Hence Teen V is sitting shelling piles of pistachios for me as I type.

Salted Pistachios

Shelled pistachios

TORTA AI PISTACCHI

 OR

 PISTACHIO TART

Serves 8

Preparation time 15- 20 minutes

Cooking time 30 minutes

Cooling time 1 hour plus

INGREDIENTS:

For the paste:

300 g shelled pistachios

75g caster sugar

Zest of 1 orange

1 egg

Pistachio base

For the filling:

400g fresh ricotta

100g caster sugar

Zest of lemon

75g dark chocolate grated

2 eggs medium

To decorate:

100g of pistachios and candid pistachios and a tbsp of sieved icing sugar.

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees c

WHAT TO DO:

1.     Mix all the ingredients of the paste together and then line the base and sides of a loose bottomed baking tin or lined pie/flan dish.

2.     Put in fridge to cool and mix together all the filling ingredients.

3.     Spoon into the lined base and then bake for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven cool in the tin/dish before taking out.

4.     Decorate with lines of pistachios and candid pistachios if you have them.

It is very simple to make, especially if you buy pre shelled pistachios or have a willing helper.

Pistachio Tart

To you all, where ever you are and whatever you are doing

THANK YOU for reading.

 I look forward to sharing more recipes and snippets of life with you all 

in 2013.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

xx

THE SMELL OF FRESH BREAD

Au Petit Versailles bakery Paris

As I trudged along our local high street yesterday morning past the growing number of charity shops and bars to the last remaining grocers I was struck by the huge difference between here, and the street on which my friend lives in Paris.

 She’s also in a residential area but they still have lots of small independent shops and numerous bakers. My recent visit saw me idly sampling bread and patisseries from as many local shops as I could in a weekend!

My favourite has to be Au Petit Versailles du Marais Patisserie in rue Francois Miron.

Only in Paris do the bakers have chandeliers and elaborate painted glass tiles!

Au Petit Versailles Paris

They treat food like we treat precious jewellery and life style shops.

Customers purchasing bread in Paris

How did we as a nation get so far removed from our food when a few hours away in France they still have local bakers that produce fresh bread several times a day? 

How did we become more accustomed to buying our bread ready sliced and in a plastic bag when our European cousins still value freshly baked loaves?

French bread shop

Listening to the Radio Four food Awards today gave me hope that there are still pockets of people who value real food and are making fresh healthy options, but sadly for most of us they seem to be the exception. Sadly there isn’t anyone doing that near where I live.

So if you want an easy bread recipe that will remind you of life elsewhere, here is a recipe for French Bread.

FRENCH BREAD RECIPE

Preparation time 5 minutes and 1 and ½ rising time

Cooking time 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

11 fl oz (1 1/3 cups) water- slightly warm

450 g (4 cups) unbleached strong white bread flour

1 ½ tsp salt

1 ½ tsp dried yeast

WHAT TO DO:

1.     If using a bread machine put the water in first then the flour and put the salt and yeast in separate corners then put on a dough cycle.

DON’T WORRY  If you don’t have a bread maker put the flour in a bowl with the salt mix the yeast into the water and then gradually mix the water into the the flour and combine the mixture by hand until it becomes a gloopy mass.

Cover and let rise until doubled in size, this takes about 1 ½ hours.

2.     When the dough has risen or the cycle has finished remove it from the pan or bowl and put it on a lightly floured work top and knead gently for a minute or two until the air has been knocked out.

3.     Lightly grease a baking sheet and shape the dough on it and leave for about ½ until the dough has risen again.

4.     In the mean time pre-heat the oven to 190. When the dough has risen to nearly twice the size again pop in the middle of the oven and cook for 25 to 30 minutes.

5.     Remove from the oven when it is golden and hollow when you tap the bottom and let cool on a wire rack until you want to eat it.

  I let it spread rather than confine to a baguette shape.

Home made French bread. 

 It only has a few simple ingredients, with no nasty hidden preservatives so it does need eating in a day or so, unlike the supermarket packet bread that scarily seems to keep fresh for days.... I am still trying to keep Teen V on healthy immune boosting food to combat the lingering Glandular fever so this recipe is a welcome break from the wholemeal and grainy nutty breads I have been making,

 and makes delicious French toast!