Fresh Fig Tart
with Tarragon Pastry Cream and Pistachio Crust

Ingredients

For the Crust:
• 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (divided)
• 1/3 cup pistachios
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 stick unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
For the Pastry Cream:
• 2 cups milk
• 2 tsps. tarragon leaves
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 5 egg yolks
• 1/4 tsp. salt
For the Tart:
• 6-8 ripe figs
• 2 tbsp. apricot jam
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 2 tsps. pistachios, chopped
• sprig of tarragon, for garnish

Instructions

Preparing the Crust:
1. Blend 1/2 cup of the flour and the pistachios together in a food processor.
2. Once a coarse meal has formed, add the rest of the flour (1 cup) and the powdered sugar; process until smooth.
3. Add butter, processing until the mixture looks like wet sand.
4. Add egg and process until dough comes together in a ball.
5. Wrap dough in wax paper and chill for one hour.
6. Once dough has chilled, preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
7. Roll dough out to 3/8 inch thickness and press into a greased 9-inch tart pan.
8. Spray a piece of aluminum foil with cooking spray, and place over unbaked tart shell. Fill with pie weights (we just use dried beans!).
9. Place tart shell in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
10. Remove pie weights and aluminum foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes until shell is golden brown.
Preparing the Pastry Cream:
11. In a medium-sized saucepan, heat milk and tarragon until the mixture reaches a simmer. Let tarragon steep for 15 minutes, then strain milk, and discard tarragon leaves.
12. In a small bowl, whisk together flour and sugar. Pour heated milk into flour-sugar mixture, whisk to combine, and return mixture to the saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens, but do not let the mixture boil.
13. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk egg yolks vigorously until they lighten in color.
14. Slowly pour the milk mixture into the beaten egg yolks, whisking all the while.
15. Pour milk and egg mixture back into the saucepan and place over medium-high heat.
16. Add a pinch of salt and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches 170 degrees Fahrenheit.
17. Let pastry cream cool to room temperature and then chill in the refrigerator for one hour.
Preparing the Tart:
18. Once the tart shell and pastry cream are cool, pour the pastry cream into the bottom of the tart shell.
19. On top of the pastry cream, decoratively place thin slices of fresh fig.
20. Combine apricot jam and lemon juice in a small bowl to make a glaze.
21. Brush the top of the tart with the glaze.
22. Sprinkle glazed fig slices with chopped pistachios and garnish the finished tart with a fresh tarragon sprig. Tart is best served chilled.