Mimsy's Pine Nut Honey Tart

I had quite a few pine nuts left over from the Lebanese-Inspired Spicy Lamb Pizza on my other blog and the Italian Easter Pie (posted in this blog prior to this post). I found a recipe for Pine Nut Tart, another Italian dessert, in a generic Mediterranean cookbook I've had for years. I made quite a few changes to the recipe, so I'm calling it my own version. Fabulous. Seriously scrumptious. I'm really happy with how it turned out, and my kids and their friends and Dave all seemed to like it too.

Mimsy's Pine Nut Honey Tart

Butter Crust
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
3/4 cup cold salted butter, chopped
1 egg

Mix the flour, sugar and butter until it looks like coarse cornmeal. Add the egg and mix until combined. Press into the bottom of a tart pan or springform pan. Cook at 375ºF for 10 minutes. Set aside.

Filling
1 1/2 cups raw pine nuts, roasted in the oven at 375ºF for 7 minutes
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp almond extract
3 eggs
1/4 tsp salt

Combine honey, butter, extract and eggs. Beat until blended. Spread roasted pine nuts in crust. Pour honey mixture over nuts. Bake tart in the oven at 375ºF for 40 minutes or until set. Serve slightly cooled (warm) or cold.

Italian Easter Pie

I had a dish like this while I was in Italy, and I've been meaning to try it ever since. Giada De Laurentiis from Food Network is the author of this recipe. I didn't even try to deviate from her instructions my first time trying it, and I'm glad. It's perfectly, subtly sweet, and the pine nuts and orange zest are gorgeous.

Easter Pie
by Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar, plus extra for garnish
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup cooked short-grained rice
• 1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
• 6 sheets fresh phyllo sheets or frozen, thawed
• 3/4 stick (3 ounces) unsalted butter,
  

Directions

Blend 3/4 cup of powdered sugar, eggs, vanilla, orange zest and ricotta in a food processor until smooth. Stir in the rice and pine nuts. Set the ricotta mixture aside.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Lightly butter a 9-inch glass pie dish. Lay 1 phyllo sheet over the bottom and up the sides of the dish, allowing the phyllo to hang over the sides. Brush the phyllo with the melted butter. Top with a second sheet of phyllo dough, laying it in the opposite direction as the first phyllo sheet. Continue layering the remaining sheets of phyllo sheets, alternating after each layer and buttering each sheet. Spoon the ricotta mixture into the dish. Fold the overhanging phyllo dough over the top of the filling to enclose it completely. Brush completely with melted butter.

Bake the pie until the phyllo is golden brown and the filling is set, about 35 minutes. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool completely. Sift powdered sugar over the pie and serve.